However, such a nightmare appears to have slowly, yet steadily, crept into reality. Recent reports of ill treatment by educators, including teachers and school principals, have been rampant. Last month, three incidents of abuse allegedly committed by teachers against their students in Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi made the headlines, especially as two of the cases resulted in death.

In the Deli Serdang regency of North Sumatra, a 14-year-old junior high school student identified only by his initials, RSS, died on Sept. 26 reportedly after receiving corporal punishment from a contract teacher who forced him to do 100 squat-jumps a week earlier, resulting in severe injuries to his legs.

On Sept. 15, a 13-year-old pesantren (Islamic boarding school) student in Blitar, East Java, known only by the initials MKA, purportedly died of a head injury after a teacher threw a wooden plank with nails sticking out of it while disciplining students who had ignored his instructions to prepare for the day.

The Gorontalo incident in Sulawesi, albeit not seeing any fatality, has caused a double whammy to the 17-year-old victim as videotapes showing her being sexually harassed by a teacher have gone viral on social media platforms.

The Federation of Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI) has noted 36 cases of student assault so far this year, the majority of which–around 53 percent–were allegedly committed by educators.

Reports of educators perpetrating violence against their students have been heard quite often for years, but efforts to put a stop to the incidents remain inadequate.

Among the critical measures to prevent acts of violence is improving the wellbeing of the educators. Educators’ low salaries and excessive workload, among other things, have been regarded as the chief challenges facing the education sector in the country for many years.

The adage, “teachers are the unsung heroes”, seems to have been misused to justify low salaries for educators. Thousands of contractual teachers and other educators in pesantren, for example, receive a salary of only Rp 150,000 (US$9.57) per month, which in some cases is only disbursed every three to six months.

Various studies have highlighted “very demanding administrative work” related to career advancement and increased salaries. To win a promotion, teachers must record and calculate their credit scores manually. Such tasks hinder their focus on teaching and looking after the students properly.

The excessive administrative workload also deprives teachers of opportunities to raise their awareness about building a school environment that does not tolerate violence and bullying, for example, through workshops and seminars.

Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim signed in August last year a regulation on the prevention and handling of violence in the educational environment, but its dissemination and implementation remain far from sufficient.

Ministerial Regulation No. 46/2023 mandates the formation of teams to prevent and handle violence (TPPK) within 12 months. Experts have noticed that schools are competing to complete the task but only as a formality. Teachers’ awareness of the negative impacts of violence in schools in general has remained low as evidenced by recurring incidents.

The deaths of two students last month should serve as a wake-up call for the education authorities and stakeholders to step up efforts to prevent violence against students in schools from ever happening again. One student’s life lost is one too many for us who envision today’s kids as tomorrow’s leaders toward a bright future.