P4 course for students suspended<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): The Ministry of Education and Culture has
\nabolished the requirement for university students to attend
\nPancasila propagation (P4) courses in the 1998\/1999 academic
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Director for Student Affairs Soedarmadi said here yesterday
\nthat the efficacy and necessity of the program, a mandatory
\nrequirement for university entrants, would be re-evaluated.<\/p>\n
\"The decision has been taken because the program's method and
\nsubstance are currently being reevaluated,\" Soedarmadi told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
He said the ministry had sent a letter to all rectors
\ninforming them of the decision.<\/p>\n
However he asserted that the Pancasila subject would still be
\nincluded as part of the curriculum, but now students are will not
\nbe asked the Pancasila propagation course as a prerequisite for
\ngraduation.<\/p>\n
Soedarmadi added that the ministry was now looking into the
\npossibility of integrating the elements of the propagation and
\nupgrading course be incorporated into the Pancasila subjects
\ntaken by the students.<\/p>\n
A number of universities have reportedly decided to stop
\nteaching the propagation course under their own initiative,
\nincluding Indonesian Islamic University in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Secretary General of the Association of Indonesian Mentors
\nMungin Edy Wibowo expressed his support for the decision and said
\nthe course was sheer indoctrination and a complete waste of
\nresources.<\/p>\n
\"It is really nothing more than a a waste of money because all
\nstudents, from junior high school to university, study the same
\nmaterial,\" Mungin, who also lectures at Semarang Teachers
\nTraining Institute, said.<\/p>\n
He contended that funds for the course could be more useful if
\nchanneled into student extra-curricular activities and the
\nprocurement of educational materials.<\/p>\n
Mungin said that Pancasila should be retained as subject
\nmatter in universities, but urged that it be taught in a more
\nphilosophically oriented course.<\/p>\n
New York-based Human Rights Watch aired objections to the
\ncourse last week and called on the government to abolish it.<\/p>\n
The course was introduced in 1984 by the late minister of
\neducation and culture Nugroho Notosusanto. It takes up the first
\ntwo weeks of the student initiation period.<\/p>\n
A special body exists to oversee the propagation of Pancasila.<\/p>\n
The Agency for Pancasila Propagation has been repeatedly
\nadvised to invigorate the course methodology, which features
\nhours of dry lectures.<\/p>\n
There is a widely held perception among the public at large
\nthat the propagation courses are generally boring and
\nuninspiring.<\/p>\n
Indonesians in all spheres of life, from Junior High School
\nstudents to senior government officials, are obliged to take the
\ncourse. (har)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/p4-course-for-students-suspended-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}