Dozens of teachers from the Saint Monica School in Sunter, Tanjung Priok have sued the head of the North Jakarta Department of Education, Mustafa Leman, due to his decision to “freeze” the entire school which has kept them from working since March 2014. The say the goal of their lawsuit is simply to have the freezing order cancelled so they can get back to work.
“As a result of the school being frozen by the Department of Education, we have been effectively laid off. It’s been almost a year we have just had to wait at home because the school has been closed,” said Lidya Wardhana, one of the teachers as quoted by Vivanews.
The teachers say that the steps taken by the North Jakarta’s head of Education has destroyed the lives of the schools’ 25 teachers and their families.
“If it’s going to be like this, what should our families eat? I made this decision because our families’ financial situations have become dire,” Lidya said.
The teachers argue that the steps taken by Mustafa and the North Jakarta Department of Education are very discriminatory, considering that the Jakarta International School was allowed to continue operating as normal during investigations into its infamous sexual abuse case.
“If a teacher is problematic, then yes, the teacher should be punished. But the entire school should not be sanctioned,” Lidya said.
The teachers said they hoped the courts would hopefully help resolve the situation soon, since the school has already been frozen by the Department of Education for over a year.
Mustafa responded to the lawsuit by arguing that he did the right thing to protect the school’s children. He also argued that he only froze the school’s kindergarten classes, and not playgroups.
According to Mustafa, he merely followed the standard operating procedure outlined in the 2012 Gubernatorial Decree on the Establishment, Opening and Closing of Schools. He said the sexual abuse case must be resolved before the school can be reopened.
In early 2014, a parent of a 3-year-old student at the Saint Monica School accused teachers of the school of sodomizing her child. The school has argued that there is no evidence to support her claim.
