Jakarta, IO – Rejection of East Nusa Tenggara’s (NTT) 5am school hours policy conceived by its governor Viktor Laiskodat continues. The latest criticism came from NTT Child Protection Agency (LPA) chair Veronika Ata, who argued that the policy, which applies to senior secondary school Year 12 students may contribute to the occurrence of sexual violence.
“We firmly reject the policy because it does not represent the best interests of children. It also makes them vulnerable to sexual violence, especially female students,” said Veronika, reported CNN Indonesia, Friday (10/3).
Veronika said the policy forced children to go to school when it is still dark. Worse, not every student has access to transportation so they have to go to school on foot.
Veronika believes this policy is contrary to the spirit of child protection from sexual violence. Not only that, she is also concerned that students will be exhausted due to lack of time to rest. As a result, they will be sleepy in the classroom and cannot learn effectively, leading to stress and poor academic performance.
Read: NTT governor asked to revoke controversial early morning school start time policy
Veronika said that there is no correlation between better discipline and intellect when students go to school at 5am. She slams the policy as half-baked. “Thus, we firmly reject this policy because it is causing misery to students, parents and teachers, and even public disturbance,” she said. (un)