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MA 1 Sembalun state high school in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, has shocked the public for not passing 12th-grader Aldi Irfan even though he gained good grades in his final exams.

Aldi finished second best in his class and is known as the class chieftain and a member of the school’s student board.

His trouble began with the cold weather in Sembalun, which is located 1,200 meters above sea level and close to Mount Rinjani. He and other students often wore jackets to school and during class. It became a problem when Sadikin Ali, the school principal prohibits students from wearing jackets to school.

He also does not tolerate latecomers for any reason.

Once there was heavy rain that caused landslides in Sembalun, causing students, including Aldi, to come late. They were ordered to go back home.

Aldi disagreed with the school’s decision and took it to Facebook.

“We are students of SMA 1 Sembalun. Please respect our struggle. We want a better life and to make our parents proud. Education is not supposed to complicate students,” he wrote as his status, while posting pictures of his friends walking along muddy roads to school.      

Aldi said he was later confronted by the principal who had threatened to fail him in his school exams.  

“The school principal didn’t let me graduate because I criticized his rules,” Aldi told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Friday.

He said there were 20 students in his class and many others also violated school regulations, but he was the only one who was not graduating.

The case was later reported to the West Nusa Tenggara Education and Culture Agency, which summoned the school principal on Friday.

During the meeting, Sadikin denied failing Aldi because of the student’s criticism. He said Aldi did not only criticize but also broke the rules many times.

“Aldi did not pass because he always violates the school’s rules,” Sadikin said.

The meeting that was held in Mataram, the province’s capital, was also attended by education agency head M. Rusman and several teachers of SMA 1 Sembalun. Representatives of West Nusa Tenggara Child Protection Agency (LPA NTB) and Mataram University’s Legal Aid Institute (LBH Unram) were also present as mediators in the case.

Sadikin said that aside from wearing a jacket to school and not parking his motorcycle in the designated place, Aldi often came late to school, and did not listen to his teachers. Sadikin said he was also involved in a brawl.

“The decision not to pass him was not only made by me, but also other teachers attending our meeting on Saturday last week. We took this decision because Aldi doesn’t have good behavior and he always violates the rules,” he said.

Sadikin’s account, however, was disputed by Aldi’s homeroom teacher, Ruhaiman.

The teacher expressed disappointment over the school’s decision, noting that Aldi had been a good student.

“Aldi actively participated in the school’s student board. He once helped the school to get a donation of 60 copies of the Quran which our students still use to this day,” he said on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Aldi and his parents, who are farmers, are scheduled to meet the school management for mediation on Monday.

LBH Unram director Joko Dumadi said the provincial Ombudsman was also invited to the meeting.

“Aldi has a good academic record. If the reason behind the decision not to pass him was merely because he wore a jacket and did not park his motorcycle in the right place, then it wasn’t so substantive,” he said.

Joko added that if the school stood by its decision after the mediation, LBH Unram would assist Aldi in taking the case to the Mataram State Administrative Court. (ars)