October 4, 2024
JAKARTA – Following the deaths of several students allegedly resulting from assaults by teachers, experts have called on the government to pay closer attention to educators’ mental health, noting that many are enduring heavy workloads and low wages.
A 14-year-old junior high school student in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, identified by his initials RSS, reportedly died on Sept. 26 after receiving a harsh punishment from his teacher, SWH, a week earlier. He had been ordered to do 100 squat jumps for failing to complete an assignment.
The victim’s family suspected the punishment took place on Sept. 19 and said RSS began to feel sore the day after, with visible rashes and bruising on his thigh that made him unable to walk. The boy was brought to a nearby hospital the next week when his injuries worsened. He was pronounced dead a day later.
The school has since issued an apology to the victim’s family but said the punishment, though excessive, did not come from ill-intent.
The teacher in question, who is not a permanent employee, has been suspended and is under investigation.
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In September, a 13-year-old pesantren (Islamic boarding school) student in Blitar, East Java, identified by the initials MKA reportedly died of a head injury after a teacher threw a wooden plank with nails sticking out of it while disciplining students.
Blitar police spokesperson First. Insp. Samsul Anwar said the incident occurred on the morning of Sept. 15, when MKA allegedly ignored instructions from the teacher to take a shower after a regular morning workout.
The teacher then threw the wooden plank, hitting MKA’s head. The student was declared dead at a nearby hospital later that day.
The incidents have added to mounting concerns about school safety, amid a spike in assault cases at schools in recent months.
The Federation of Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI) has recorded 36 “severe” assaults so far this year, 21 of which took place from July to September. A total of 144 students were harmed in the aforementioned cases, with 48 people identified as perpetrators.
Educators – whether teachers, school principals, national scouts (Pramuka) mentors or extracurricular coaches – were the perpetrators in the majority of the incidents, according to the data. The remainder were cases of student-on-student violence.
More than half of the incidents involved physical assault, while 36 percent involved sexual harassment.
Last week, the Gorontalo Police named a 57-year-old Islamic high school teacher identified as DH as a suspect in a sexual abuse case for allegedly manipulating and harassing his 17-year-old female student since 2022.
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Education expert Darmaningtyas said teachers assaulting students was “inexcusable” but likely happened as a result of the heavy burden experienced by educators in the country, some of whom received small salaries and were in an “unclear” employment state.
Non-permanent teachers in the country are advocating to be recognized as civil servants, contending that many of their group have worked for years and are still getting meager wages.
Former social affairs minister and East Java gubernatorial candidate Tri Rismaharini, in a visit to an Islamic boarding school in the province, reportedly shed tears upon learning that the teachers’ wages were only Rp 150,000 (US$9.84) per month.
“These teachers were likely under a lot of stress because of their heavy workload and low wages. We cannot justify [them taking it out] on the students, but the government should look after its teachers better,” Darmaningtyas said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the FSGI urged the government to pay closer attention to violence in schools by rolling out more policies and public service announcements to prevent such fatal incidents from recurring.
It also urged better implementation of a 2023 ministerial regulation on violence prevention in schools by giving more seminars and releasing better technical guidelines for members of school anti-bullying teams, which include teachers.
Retno Listyarti, head of the FSGI advisory board, condemned the string of teacher violence, which she said was a “serious cyclical issue” stemming from the fact that many of the nation’s educators had been brought up in a generation that was more permissive of violence.
“There are laws that clearly ban violence against children, but it keeps on happening because it’s a mentality problem. Many of [these teachers] were victims of violence themselves growing up, but they don’t realize that this is a problem,” Retno said.
She further called on the government to ensure that each school had a safe channel for students to report violence and for authorities to hold routine check-ups on the mental health of educators.
“Teachers, like civil servants, are vetted when they first enter the workforce. But it’s important to have these check-ups, particularly for mental health, on a regular basis”.