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ReligionIndonesiafollowsmoralcompass:news
Lee,Joseph.TheTimesEducationalSupplement 5049 (Jun21,2013):18.

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Abstract
"Thegrowingactsofterrorismwerebasicallyduetoincompletereligiouseducation.[...]weneedtoaddmorehoursforreligioussubjects."Thefirstgroup
ofIndonesianteacherswillnextmonthbegintraininginthenewgovernmentapprovedcurriculum,whichoverhaulseducationforstudentsofallages
anddropsscienceandsocialstudiesasdiscretesubjectsforchildrenaged612,tomaketimeforreligiousandmoraleducation.

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Newcurriculumseekstodefendagainstreligiousextremism.

Thecountrywiththeworld'slargestMuslimpopulationistacklinggrowingconcernsoverfundamentalistviolencebyintroducinganewcurriculum
focusingonmoralandreligiousinstructionattheexpenseofscience.

GovernmentofficialsinIndonesiaareworriedabouttheincreasinginfluenceofreligiousextremismandattacksonChristianchurches.Morerigorous
religiouseducation,emphasisingpeacefulnessandtolerance,willhelptoinoculateyoungpeopleagainstfundamentalistpreaching,theybelieve.

"Terrorismisnottriggeredbylonghoursoflessonsonreligion,"saidMohammadNuh,educationandcultureminister,atadebateinthecountry'sHouse
ofRepresentativesearlierthisyear."Thegrowingactsofterrorismwerebasicallyduetoincompletereligiouseducation.Therefore,weneedtoaddmore
hoursforreligioussubjects."

ThefirstgroupofIndonesianteacherswillnextmonthbegintraininginthenewgovernmentapprovedcurriculum,whichoverhaulseducationfor
studentsofallagesanddropsscienceandsocialstudiesasdiscretesubjectsforchildrenaged612,tomaketimeforreligiousandmoraleducation.

RoyGardneroftheUniversityofLondon'sInstituteofEducation,coauthorwithFasliJalalofa2009bookonimprovingschoolsinIndonesia,saidthat
accordingtoitsconstitution,thecountrywastolerantofallfaiths.

"However,therehavebeenmanyinstancesofattacksontheChristianChurch,"hetoldTES."Therearealsoconcernsaboutthespreadof
fundamentalistgroupsandtherehavebeenanincreasingnumberofcontrolsintroducedtoensurethatthecountryfollowsmoreIslamicpatternsoflife.
Thehopethattheemphasisonreligionwillleadtogreaterharmonybetweencommunitiesislaudable."

Butthedecisionhasmeantthatsciencehasbeendroppedasastandalonesubjectintheearlyyearsofschooling.Andtheprimacyofreligiousand
moraleducationhasledtosomemoralisticproposalsforscienceteaching,whichhavebeenmockedbyactivistswhoopposethenewcurriculum.

Forexample,in10thgradelessonsfor15yearolds,studentsareinvitedtostudytheregularityofatoms,elementsandmoleculesasanexampleof
disciplineforthemtofollowintheirownlives."Thenewcurriculumstatesthata10thgradestudentmustlearntobedisciplinedlikeanelectron,which
alwaysmoveswithinitsorbit,"RetnoListyarti,secretarygeneraloftheIndonesianTeachersUnionFederation,toldTheJakartaPost."Howcanmy
studentsbehavelikeelectrons?"

Studentsarealsoinvitedtodemonstrateanawarenessofrightsandobligations,aswellastoleranceinapluralisticsociety,bystudyingmathematical
equationsandlinearinequalities."Howisthatevenpossible?"MsListyartiasked.

AreportpublishedthisyearbyHumanRightsWatch,InReligion'sName,saysthat,despiteitsreputationfortolerance,theIndonesiangovernment
frequentlyoverlookstheharassmentofreligiousminoritiesandhasevenintroduceddiscriminatorylaws.

Butthereportaddsthatwhileperpetratorsofseriouscrimesagainstminoritiesareoftengiven"ridiculouslylenient"sentences,thegovernmentdeals
severelywithactsofterrorism.

"Innumerousinstancesdocumentedinthisreport,harassmentandintimidationofminoritycommunitiesbymilitantIslamistgroupshasbeenfacilitated
bytheactiveorpassiveinvolvementofIndonesiangovernmentofficialsandsecurityforces,"itstates.

Themainconcernofteachers,however,ishowtointroduceanewcurriculumquicklyinacountrywithmorethan30millionchildreninprimaryschool
alone,andwithnearly3milliongovernmentemployedteachersandafurther1.7millionemployedlocally.

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Approvingthebudgettoimplementthecurriculum,thegovernmentreduceditsfundingbytwothirds,acknowledgingthatonlyasmallproportionof
schoolswerereadytoreceiveit.Originally,morethan102,000schoolsweretoteachthenewcurriculuminthenextschoolyear,butthathasbeen
reducedtoabout6,300.Thenumberofteacherstobetrainedhasbeencutfromabout550,000toabout55,000.

"Theexistingcurriculumisstillrelevanttofulfiltheneedsofthestudentsandflexibleenoughtoadjusttotheneedsoflocalcontent,"education
consultantandteachertrainerItjeChodidjahtoldTES."Theproblemwiththecurriculumisintheimplementation.Teacherswillnothavehadenough
trainingbeforethecurriculumisapplied,sotheywillnothaveaclearideaofhowtotranslateitintotheteachingandlearningprocess."

Credit:JosephLee

CopyrightTSLEducationLtd.Jun21,2013

Details

Subject Students
Teaching
Corecurriculum
Schools
Religion
Scienceeducation

Location Indonesia

Title ReligionIndonesiafollowsmoralcompass:news

Author Lee,Joseph

Publicationtitle TheTimesEducationalSupplement

Issue 5049

Firstpage 18

Publicationyear 2013

Publicationdate Jun21,2013

Year 2013

Section News&Opinion

Publisher TESGlobalLimited

Placeofpublication London

Countryofpublication UnitedKingdom

Publicationsubject Education

ISSN 00407887

Sourcetype TradeJournals

Languageofpublication English

Documenttype News

ProQuestdocumentID 1424287403

DocumentURL http://search.proquest.com/docview/1424287403?accountid=10673

Copyright CopyrightTSLEducationLtd.Jun21,2013

Lastupdated 20140903

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