KPAI Concerned About High School Students' Involvement in Rallies

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) has expressed concern over the involvement of high school students in the protests that took place in front of the parliament (DPR) building complex.

"KPAI has expressed concern over the involvement of children in their white and grey uniform (high school students) who staged a protest in front of the parliament building," a member of the commission for education, Retno Listyarti, said in a statement here on Wednesday.

According to Listyarti, the students circulated the plan to take part in the demonstration through social media. Most of the students came from Bekasi, Depok, and North Jakarta.

"KPAI has worked in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Culture in addressing the situation to protect the children as the protest could potentially have turned violent," she added.

The commission has called on the Jakarta Education Office to circulate its directive to principals, teachers and parents to monitor their children.

Hundreds of high school students hurled stones at the police who guarded the parliament building complex in Jakarta on Wednesday, in a protest over some controversial bills.

The demonstrators who claimed to be high school students from Greater Jakarta pelted stones at security officers from across the street. Some cars stuck in a traffic jam in the location were also hit by the stones.

They joined hundreds of university students who took to the streets to protest the revisions of several laws including the one on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and Criminal Code (KUHP).

The protest has entered its third day, after thousands of students from various universities, including from outside the capital city, staged protests in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) Building on Tuesday, demanding that legislators cancel the passage of the controversial bills as they were regressive to democracy.

ANTARA