Kalimantan - Last week teachers from East Kalimantan gathered to discuss education issues in Balikpapan. The Jakarta Post was invited to cover the training program by The Tanoto Foundation, which is owned by business tycoon Sukanto Tanoto. During the four-day event, prominent education expert Dr. Anita Lie took time out of her busy schedule as a trainer to speak with Kornelius Purba.
Question: A participant at the event said he was sad to see so many students divided by religion. What are your thoughts on this?
Answer: The problem, I think, is that the obsession with religious teaching here has been out of proportion. I am not against religious teaching in schools and I don‘t believe in the idea of separation between the state and religion. In the U.S., they don‘t teach religion in schools. I still believe we are different. Religion should be part of teaching materials in schools.
But the question is how (can it be done)? How should religion be taught in schools? Certainly the era of indoctrination and dogmatic teaching should be over.
So what was the participant‘s concern?
Like another participant said, it is like dividing up students according to what they are carrying in their hand each Friday -- the Koran, the Bible or (any) other holy book.
My concern is that our children are divided, along lines of ethnicity, religion and class.
Another concern is that students are learning how the system works and what their teachers are doing. What happens around schools is sending really negative messages to children, including how the national exams are working. Manipulation is happening all around them.
While this is not relevant to all teachers, many encourage students to cheat -- to do the exams in a dishonest way. Sometimes teachers facilitate this. What kind of religious teaching is that?
What does the government need to do to overcome the tendency to segregate students in schools?
After the Soeharto era, people became carried away with freedom of expression to the extend we didn‘t think we needed the state ideology of Pancasila anymore. But I think we went too far.
We need a unifying force (in Indonesia), and Pancasila should be used as a force to unite the nation and prevent Indonesia from falling into pieces. It would be good if this could also be taught in schools.
However, we should ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past using forced indoctrinations. The values of Pancasila should be integrated into our system. We should not just teach these values in the formal curriculum per se. Children also need to learn about pluralism and the diversity of our nation.
Do we need to promote pluralism more in schools?
We need to promote multiculturalism in schools. It would be hard to teach the values of Pancasila, such as Unity in Diversity, in homogeneous schools.
Students need to learn about our diverse and dynamic population. However, Unity in Diversity is still not an internalized vision here -- it is just jargon. Students often are not exposed to examples of people living peacefully or living cooperatively in our multicultural society.
What are your thoughts on the controversy surrounding the government‘s obligation to allocate at least 20 percent of the national budget to education?
If this could be fulfilled, fine, under one condition: corruption within the bureaucracy should be watched more closely, not just by state institutions or legal institutions, but also by society in general. Twenty percent (of the national budget) is quite a lot of money. It would be good if we had that kind of money, but there would need to be provisions in place to ensure the money was used wisely and responsibly. Otherwise, it will just become another leaking pipe.
So the problem is about more than just the budget?
It is not just about the national budget. There are different pictures in different provinces due to regional autonomy. In most regencies and mayoralties in East Kalimantan, state schools don‘t charge students because it is a rich province. But in many parts of Indonesia, education is still not free, even in state schools.
We really need to establish what areas should be delegated to provinces, regencies and mayoralties as part of regional autonomy, and what areas should not be delegated.
In your opinion, what areas should be delegated?
There should be a balance between responsibility and authority. If you delegate responsibility, you should also delegate authority. One of the responsibilities of the government is to finance quality education. The authority of the government is to set up policies and measures and make sure they are implemented.
But so far I cannot see such a balance existing. Certain responsibilities are delegated to the regions, without the appropriate authority being delegated also.
Take the national exam for instance, where the task is to ensure quality education has been provided. However, while the responsibility to provide quality education through the curriculum falls on the shoulders of teachers, the relevant authority has not been delegated.
What about the role of private sector players, such as the Tanoto Foundation, in the development of education?
Their role is to fill in gaps and work together, even though sometimes this is not an official partnership.
Such activities should be encouraged, or at least given recognition. Whatever their inspiration, be it a philanthropic calling or agenda-based, they all fill in gaps.
And this is also part of educating the Indonesian public.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com (4 September 2007)