The Straits Times, Friday March 21, 2003
Indonesia's new Bill 'trying to Islamise education'
Critics hit out at requirement for all students to receive religious instruction according
to their beliefs from teachers of the same faith
By Devi Asmarani
JAKARTA - Indonesia's educators and religious leaders have called on Parliament to
drop a new education Bill amid fears its controversial content will threaten private
schools' autonomy and encourage religious segregation in the country.
The Bill on National Education System, now being debated in Parliament and likely to
be endorsed on May 2, was drafted by lawmakers to replace the 1989 Law on
Education System, considered to be irrelevant in the light of political and social
changes in the country.
The new Bill is aimed at regulating the school system in the era of decentralisation
when much of the central government's power is relegated to the regions. But it has
been criticised as being too heavy on religion and too light on education.
About 2,000 teachers grouped under the Concerned People for National Education
rallied outside the House of Representatives on Wednesday to pressure lawmakers to
either review or drop the Bill.
One of the protesters, Mr B.N. Marbun, a former member of the National Commission
on Human Rights, told The Straits Times: 'There is a trend to Islamise our education
system, which could threaten our nation's mission to educate the people.'
The protesters are against a controversial provision in the Bill which requires all
students to receive religious instruction according to their beliefs from teachers of the
same faith, and schools to provide places of worship for all their students.
This would mean than non- Islamic private schools that have some Muslim students
will have to provide Muslim teachers for religious studies, and vice versa with Islamic
schools.
Currently, only state-owned schools or secular private schools offer religious classes
for students of major religions, usually Islam and Christianity.
That provision in the Bill has been proposed by members of the conservative Muslim
factions in Parliament who fear that some non-Muslim private schools have been
forcing their religious teachings on their Muslim students.
Earlier, some Muslim groups opposed missionary institutions, accusing them of
converting Muslims to Christianity. But there have been no known cases of forced
conversions at private Catholic and Christian schools.
Many Indonesian Muslims send their children to Catholic schools, where the
education standard is normally higher than that at state schools. This is despite the
fact that these schools require all students, including non-Catholics, to attend classes
on Catholicism.
Similarly, private Islamic schools, such as the Al-Azhar, also make it compulsory for
non-Muslim students to attend Islamic lessons. However, their numbers are too small
that they are not likely to be affected by the new legislation.
Resistance to the Bill comes mainly from private Catholic and Christian schools and
educators from predominantly Christian provinces such as North Sulawesi, who see it
as a threat to the tradition and character of mission schools.
The Bill is also being attacked by critics who see it as an indication that the state is
increasingly interfering with the individual's rights to a religious belief.
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