Image from Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA (AFP): Indonesian teenage students who skip class or play too many video games could land themselves in military bootcamp if a disciplinary pilot project rolled out in one province this month proves successful, a government minister told AFP on Friday.
More than 270 teenage students in West Java deemed troublesome have been shipped to military barracks under a scheme launched this month by the governor, local media reported.
Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai praised the project, and has thrown his support behind rolling out the programme nationwide.
He reiterated his support for expanding the programme across the country to AFP on Friday.
"If it is successful from a human rights perspective ... meaning education is taking place properly and correctly as well as good improvements in mental capacity, competence, discipline and responsibility, then it can be done nationwide," he said.
The programme aimed to encourage a lifestyle change for students in the province, said governor Dedi Mulyadi on Thursday after observing that many stay up late playing video games, skip school or have been involved in altercations.
He explained that the military's involvement in the programme was because of its experience in building character, adding that the students were still receiving their education while staying at the barracks.
The programme will be rolled out across the province in stages and only admit students if their parents approve, Dedi added.
"We will not admit children without parental consent," he told reporters on Thursday.
Andrie Yunus, deputy coordinator of rights group Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), said the West Java government's programme was a "wrong policy" as the military education and training units were not a place to educate students.
"The purpose of putting students to military education and training units is to give punishment. This is clearly wrong because it is not based on the criminal law process for children," Andrie told AFP.
"We doubt that this programme can be run effectively."
He also said the programme was a form of "invasion of 'militarism'" in the civilian realm, particularly for students. n- AFP
