Another judicial review hearing of Law No. 20 of 2003 on the National Education System, Tuesday (9/12/2023). Photo by Humas MK/Fauzan.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK)held another judicial review hearing of Law No. 20 of 2003 on the National Education System (Sisdiknas) on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 in the plenary courtroom.

The Petitioner, who attended the second hearing online, said that the petition had been revised. Through its decisions, he argues, the Court is a positive legislator. He mentioned Decision No. 102/PUU-VII/2009 on Article 28 of Law No. 42 of 2008 on Presidential Elections, which states that citizens must be registered as voters to be able to vote, and Decision No. 102/PUU-VII/2009 on Article 111, in which the Court expanded Article 28 and Article 111 paragraph (1).

“This means that [through its decisions, the Court] is a positive legislator because there are such decisions. I believe I can challenge Article 11 paragraph (1) of the Sisdiknas Law on the zoning system for state school admission. I believe I can bring it to the Constitutional Court,” the Petitioner asserted.

The lawmaking process, he said, takes a long time, so it takes quite some time to resolve a legal vacuum. In those decisions, the Court recognized the need for such expansion of norms.

“I have also made a comparison with other countries’ decisions, such as the Marbury v Madison in 1803,” he explained.

Also read: Petitioner Alleges Students Traumatized by Zoning System

The case No. 85/PUU-XXI/2023 was filed by Leonardo Siahaan, who challenges Article 11 paragraph (1) of the Sisdiknas Law, which reads, “The Government and local governments shall have to provide services and facilities, and ensure the implementation of quality education for every citizen without discrimination.”

At the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, August 30, the Petitioner revealed that he is a firstborn in his family and that he has two biological younger brothers, Simon Fransisco Siahaan and Yoel Riski Siahaan. He alleges that his brothers have been traumatized by the zoning system for state school admission.

“The trauma emerged during admission at state schools located not far from home. Finally, by the parents’ decision, the Petitioner’s siblings chose to enroll in private schools. The zoning system had caused constitutional impairment in many members of the community, not only in my two siblings,” he said.

He explained that the zoning system is regulated in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Regulation (Permendikbud) No. 44 of 2019 on the admission of freshmen in kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, senior high schools, and vocational senior high schools. The regulation is the implementation of Article 11 paragraph (1) of Law No. 20 of 2023. The Petitioner could not file a material judicial review petition of the norm to the Supreme Court because he would have to pay for an administrative fee of five million rupiahs. Not being able to afford the fee, he then chose to take the issue to the Constitutional Court by petitioning Article 11 paragraph (1) of Sisdiknas Law.

He alleges that the system has many drawbacks and has inaccurate coordinate maps.

“The system prioritizes ‘proximity’ by using the Google Map application. The coordinates are often inaccurate, leading to prospective students failing the PPDB,” he emphasized.

In addition, the Petitioner alleges, the zoning system likely leads to schools being overwhelmed by high student enrollment. This is because upon evaluation on the PPDB, it was discovered that regional governments had difficulties in mapping the number of school-age children who participated in the PPDB and the schools’ capacity. As a result, the zoning system is difficult to apply. The Petitioner also alleges that the system has bred manipulation of family registry so that children can enroll in flagship schools.

In his petitum, the Petitioner requests that the Court declare Article 11 paragraph (1) of Sisdiknas Law conditionally unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted as “the Government and the Regional Government shall be obliged to provide services and facilities, as well as guarantee the implementation of quality education for every citizen without discrimination and prohibit the admission of students through the zoning system or other policies that hinder students from receiving education.” 

Author       : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Raisa Ayuditha
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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