Catholic School Remains Sealed Off

(The Jakarta Post) – At least 2,417 students of private Sang Timur Catholic school in Ciledug, Tangerang, were still unable to attend classes on Wednesday, as a zealot group had yet to tear down a wall it erected on Sunday to block the school’s main entrance in protest of religious services being held there. A two-meter-tall brick wall blocks the five-meter wide gate of the school. A plaque with the inscription “This passageway has been sealed by the Karang Tengah Islamic Communication Forum” hangs on it. Banners rejecting “the school’s conversion attempts” could be seen throughout the housing complex where the school is located. Hillon Goa, chairman of the Sang Timur school’s parents forum, told The Jakarta Post that the school had planned to resume classes on Wednesday. Goa explained that the school had reached an agreement on Monday night with local officials — including the district chief — that the wall could be torn down. “But then the group came again, protesting the agreement, so the authorities then backed down,” he said.