Promoting transparency at school<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Thus far, high school teacher Retno Listyarti, 35, has met famous
\nAkbar Tanjung twice -- in two quite contradicting situations.<\/p>\n
First, when she was 22, Akbar, then the minister of youth and
\nsports, rewarded Retno, along with other young people, a
\ncertificate of \"Vanguard Youth\" for their achievements.<\/p>\n
The second occurred more recently, but was not such a friendly
\nand happy occasion as the first, 13 years ago.<\/p>\n
Instead, Retno had to be accompanied by two lawyers from the
\nLegal Aid Institute (LBH) to converse with Akbar and his wife
\nKrisnina Maharani, who were also accompanied by their lawyers.<\/p>\n
In a star-rated hotel in South Jakarta, the two parties tried
\nto settle a case, in which Akbar accused Retno, a civics teacher
\nat one of Jakarta's top state high schools, SMU 13, of defaming
\nhim.<\/p>\n
It all started with a new civics textbook for Grade XI written
\nby Retno, published by Esis. The book, a resourceful and
\npioneering text, contains a chapter about the meaning of openness
\nin civic life.<\/p>\n
Retno included an article taken from the Feb. 13, 2004,
\nedition of national daily Kompas on the dissenting opinion of
\nAbdul Rahman Saleh, then one of the Supreme Court's judges in a
\ncase involving Akbar and graft allegations.<\/p>\n
Below the article, which she included entirely, without
\nomitting or adding anything, she formulated questions for
\ndiscussion and an essay for the students.<\/p>\n
These included: What is your opinion about the facts and legal
\nbasis presented by Abdul Rahman Saleh? Was Akbar Tanjung guilty?
\nDid he deserve to be exonerated?<\/p>\n
However, Retno would not have been thrust into the spotlight
\nif it were not for Akbar's daughter, Triana Krisandini, who was a
\nGrade XI student at Santa Ursula High School, Central Jakarta,
\nwhich used Retno's book in its civics class.<\/p>\n
Upon reading the part where her father was mentioned, Triana
\ncomplained to her parents, who made a swift move: They filed a
\ncriminal lawsuit, which later was dropped, and a civic lawsuit,
\nscheduled for the first hearing on Sept. 5.<\/p>\n
Akbar's lawsuit put Retno and the book in the media spotlight.
\nA mother of two children and a young teacher at state high school
\nSMU 13, Retno is now faced with extra work in meeting reporters,
\nopening support e-mails and discussing legal matters with her
\nlawyers.<\/p>\n
\"My students really appreciate my situation,\" Retno told The
\nJakarta Post after she prepared her legal documents at LBH.<\/p>\n
\"In the classes I encourage the students to ask anything they
\nwant to know. Sometimes, the questions are not related to the
\nclass subject but that's OK,\" she said, adding that many students
\nwanted to discuss current affairs like the Ahmadiyah case (which
\nmade the headlines in July after thousands besieged the Ahmadiyah
\ncompound). The case sparked debate among Muslim leaders.<\/p>\n
Now that she is busy with the lawsuit, she once forgot to seek
\ncomprehensive information about something a student asked.<\/p>\n
\"But my student instead said wisely: Ibu, take your time, I
\ncan wait,\" Retno said, smiling.<\/p>\n
That wise statement prompted her to browse the Internet at
\nhome to seek more information.<\/p>\n
The past weeks have certainly made Retno's life more colorful;
\nshe was afraid, but later she has also became more courageous and
\nforbearing. She cried because of the lawsuit, but she also smiled
\nand laughed.<\/p>\n
Once, after hearing some criticism about her book, she shared
\nher feelings with her best friend at a small park at SMU 13
\ncompound.<\/p>\n
Most of the students were in class, but somehow some of them
\nspotted her crying while talking to her friend.<\/p>\n
\"A text message appeared on my cell phone. It read: Ibu, be
\nstrong, don't cry. God never tests humans beyond their power. He
\nknows you will overcome this,\" Retno said.<\/p>\n
\"Another message arrived. This time it said: 'Ibu, you always
\ntold us about being tolerant when facing differences. This is the
\ncase of a different opinion, so be strong.'\"<\/p>\n
And Retno cried harder from being deeply touched by her
\nstudents.<\/p>\n
\"I love being a teacher, and I really like my students at SMU
\n13. They are full of questions and the spirit of learning,\" she
\nsaid, beaming with pride and smiling.<\/p>\n
Retno, who is now a postgraduate student in the political
\nscience department at the University of Indonesia (UI), said she
\nwould remain a school teacher after she finished her studies on
\ninternational relations in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\"I just wanted to learn more. I do not want to be a university
\nlecturer, although I will get a master's degree. I love teaching
\nin high school,\" she said.<\/p>\n
At SMU 13, she has done more than teaching in class. She was
\nthe initiator of a \"Green School\" project. Retno invited her
\ninterested students to do things to help save the environment.<\/p>\n
\"First, some students and I started a paper recycling project
\ninvolving waste paper in the school. My students recorded all the
\ninformation from their experiment, resulting in the best
\nformulation of recycled paper,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Later, the Green School group made compost from the school's
\ngarbage. The most popular activity was the plastic bag recycling
\nproject, in which they collected used plastic bags and made
\ncolorful fancy shopping bags out of the junk.<\/p>\n
\"I don't count the extra energy and money I've had to supply,
\nbecause I love the activity, but God is fair,\" she said.<\/p>\n
In 2004, because of the environmental science projects, she
\nreceived an award for science from Japan-based Toray Science
\nFoundation.<\/p>\n
\"I got Rp 17.5 million (US$1,750). I bought things I had long
\nwanted -- a videocamera and a laptop computer,\" Retno said.<\/p>\n
Retno, who graduated from Jakarta State University (formerly
\nthe Institute of Education and Teaching), obviously loves
\nstudying, reading and keeping up with current affairs.<\/p>\n
The civics textbook she wrote in 19 months contained updated
\ninformation about democracy, transparency, corruption and
\nglobalization.<\/p>\n
For every subject, she inserted other sources like the related
\nwebsites. She even included a copy of a documentary film about
\nforeign debt directed by John Pilger.<\/p>\n
\"Pilger has given me approval to copy his film,\" she said,
\nadding that she knew about the movie when she watched it at the
\nIndonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), where her husband used to
\nwork.<\/p>\n
\"I wrote the book based on the curriculum, which stated that
\nteaching should use as much information as possible,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"I like critical students, as my students are now. From
\nteaching them, I have learned a lot myself,\" Retno said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/promoting-transparency-at-school-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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