Death of STIP Cadet Student, Needs Serious Handling of Violence in Schools

The world of Indonesian education not only faces problems of lagging quality and inequality, but also violence.

KOMPAS

Violence at official schools was repeated, STIP cadets were allegedly beaten to death by seniors.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Amid the series of commemorations for National Education Day 2024, violence in educational institutions has resurfaced. The death of a student cadet at the Maritime Science Institute who was allegedly assaulted by his senior is the tip of the iceberg of the high cases of violence in the field of education.

A student at the College of Maritime Affairs (STIP) in Marunda, North Jakarta, was allegedly beaten to death by his senior on Friday (3/5/2024), on campus. STIP is an official school under the Ministry of Transportation. Several cases of violence were reported, especially by seniors against juniors.

Repeated incidents of violence in the education sector, even leading to deaths, have caught the public's attention. Currently, the handling of violence in educational institutions is done by task forces or violence prevention and management teams, with local governments involved in addressing these issues.

Since last year, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology has been evaluating the implementation of other ministry-owned or non-ministerial government institution universities, but it has not yet covered the issue of violence.

"The evaluation does not cover aspects outside of that," said the Director-General of Vocational Education at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Kiki Yuliati, when contacted in Jakarta on Saturday (4/5/2024), when asked if the evaluation also includes non-academic issues such as violence.

Also read: Violence at Official Schools Recurs, STIP Shipping Cadets Allegedly Tortured by Seniors to Death

According to Kiki, the evaluation is in accordance with the mandate of Government Regulation Number 57 of 2022. The regulation pertains to the organization of higher education by other ministries and non-ministerial government institutions (PTKL).

This evaluation is to ensure that vocational education study programs held by PTKL do not overlap with similar study programs under Kemendikbudristek or the Ministry of Religion. The students in PTKL who are official government employees and prospective government employees, while non-official government employee students in PTKL come from the general public.

Evaluation is not on aspects outside of this.

Kiki added that every field of study or expertise has a different learning and development process from other fields of study. "Bullying or violence issues are not only the result of education forms or specific fields of study," said Kiki.

Prevent violence

Separately, the Secretary General of the Federation of Indonesian Teachers' Unions (FSGI), Heru Purnomo, expressed concern about the high number of violence cases in educational units under the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education or the Ministry of Religious Affairs. In fact, for educational units under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, they have even resulted in fatalities.

FSGI recorded 26 cases of severe violence, even resulting in deaths, in educational institutions that reached the legal realm in 2022. The figure increased in 2023, with 30 cases, 80 percent of which occurred in educational institutions under the Ministry of Education and Culture and Research Technology.

"We appreciate the efforts of the Ministry of Education and Culture-Research and Technology in addressing violence in educational institutions through Ministerial Regulation Number 46 of 2023 concerning the Prevention and Handling of Violence in Educational Institutions, as well as conducting socialization and training in many schools," said Heru.

Meanwhile, psychologist and lecturer at the Department of Psychology of Brawijaya University, Unita Werdi Rahajeng, suggested that every school should form a TPPK (Prevention and Handling of Violence Team). The team should ideally consist of educators/education personnel and representatives of parents/committees.

This team has the task of creating systems or programs and recommendations for preventing violence. Additionally, they are involved in the prevention and handling of cases of bullying, as well as coordinating with various related parties.

Also read: One ​​STIP student dies after being assaulted by his senior, the perpetrator is suspected to be more than one person

In the Satkaara Sharing Teacher Community event in collaboration with Rumah Guru Guidance Counseling and the Indonesia Student and Youth Forum, Unita explained four strategies for preventing and handling bullying, namely stopping it immediately, investigating the incident, providing support, and following up. .

Unita does not recommend mediation between perpetrators and victims or witnesses to investigate the details of the incident or reconcile them. In addition, she does not recommend punishing the perpetrator in public. "Handling should not only be given at the time of the incident without further action," she said.