Reject the education bill<\/p>\n
B. Herry-Priyono
\nLecturer
\nDriyarkara School of Philosophy
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
These are the days of tragic reckoning. It comes from the
\nperennial irony that has long beset this country: Talking law is
\nsimultaneously the most irrelevant and most urgent.<\/p>\n
Contradictory? The fact that it appears contradictory is
\nitself a measure of the depth of the problem besieging our
\nRepublic.<\/p>\n
These days, it concerns the fate of the notorious education
\nbill. There is nothing perfect under the sun, but some are more
\nimperfect than others. Among the imperfect, the most ludicrous is
\nthe education bill currently being debated.<\/p>\n
The absurdity of the bill has received extensive coverage. One
\nof these absurdities is the blatant absence of the fundamental
\npurpose of education, \"to nourish intellectual capabilities of
\nthe people for a national civic life\". The other is the
\nunparalleled sectarian direction deeply involved in the bill to
\nthe point that Gus Dur (former president Abdurrahman Wahid) said
\nbluntly that it was a tactic to erect an Islamic state (Public
\nDialogue, TVRI, June 9, 2003, 7 p.m.-8 p.m.).<\/p>\n
We have not even touched upon the other problems besetting the
\nbill, but the above flaws are sufficient to raise the eyebrows of
\nthose concerned with education in this Republic.<\/p>\n
Many with unrivaled expertise and experience as well as those
\nmost knowledgeable about education (such as Mochtar Buchori),
\nhave strongly urged the legislature to revoke, postpone, or amend
\nthe bill. Their chorus of expertise and wisdom falls on deaf
\nears.<\/p>\n
It is indeed a curious and unhappy fact that such an extremely
\nimportant and as grave a constitutional matter as national
\neducation is left to those who are pedestrian on the issue.
\nAgain, in matters of great importance, the fate of the Republic
\nhas fallen into thuggery or \"preman-ism\". How has this happened?<\/p>\n
Many views have been aired, but those who reject the bill
\noutright on the basis of its etatist and authoritarian character
\nseem to have misunderstood the realpolitik of the bill. Their
\ncriticisms have mostly been directed to the State as the chief
\nactor of this absurdity.<\/p>\n
In fact, it has nothing to do with the state. The state is not
\nan actor but an arena, quite like a boxing arena. A boxing arena
\ncan do nothing, for it is merely a stage upon which the bouts
\ntake place. So, the criticism that the bill is the act of an
\nauthoritarian state is a verbal bubble, devoid of substance.<\/p>\n
In other instances, a somewhat similar criticism has been
\ndirected to the Government as the one responsible for the bill.
\nBut, in the strict sense of the term, a government is not an
\nactor either, for it is simply the public agency vested with the
\nauthority to manage the state.<\/p>\n
In this sense, government is also an arena upon which various
\nactors advance their interests, and history has given countless
\nproof that both the states and governments in developing
\ncountries are so vulnerable to this tendency. It is no secret
\nthat many governments in developing countries are empty shells or
\npaper tigers with no real power to carry out the tasks they are
\nsupposed to do.<\/p>\n
Of course, the problem is not whether the actors involved in
\nthe struggle have vested interests; the real problem is that some
\ninterests are more destructive than others. When we say that \"no
\nbill is perfect, but some bills are more imperfect than others\",
\nthe imperfection simply refers to this destructive tendency. This
\nis exactly what is wrong with the education bill.<\/p>\n
But, if the state and government are simply arenas, quite like
\na boxing arena, who are the actual boxers? It is we. But the \"we\"
\nhere is too broad a term.<\/p>\n
Members of the House of Representatives? But the legislature,
\nagain, in many respects, is also merely an arena. In the field of
\npolitical economy, it is an open secret that both the legislative
\nand executive branches of government have often been captive to
\nthe power of financial oligarchs. How many times have the rules
\nof the game in labor relations, environment, city planning and
\nthe like been easily dictated by such financial oligarchs? Almost
\nalways.<\/p>\n
The case of the education bill is a case in which the
\nlegislative and executive branches, as a collective arena in
\nwhich the unity of the disintegrated Republic can be rescued, has
\nbeen bastardized by such a group. Only this time, it is not by
\nthe financial oligarchs, but by sectarian actors who,
\nunintentionally perhaps, both stultify the intellectual
\ndevelopment of this country's future generation and bring this
\nRepublic toward further disintegration.<\/p>\n
This is why the sectarian issue mentioned in the bill, which
\nis in fact only one major flaw among many, has also become the
\nmost burning issue. Be not surprised then, if in their struggle
\nto win the fight and not to reason over substance, they would use
\nthe term \"the state\" or \"government\" as the main actor of the
\nbill. It is their sheer pretext.<\/p>\n
Once again, the state is an arena, not an actor. The bill can
\nnever be drafted by the state. So, pointing to the state as a
\nculprit is a misnomer.<\/p>\n
The culprit is the drafters, who do not understand what civic
\neducation is, and those who wish to squeeze the substance of
\ncivic education into the most sectarian matter.<\/p>\n
This concerns not only the minds of future generations, but
\nalso the fate of our Republic. It is our fate.<\/p>\n
How many times have we lamented over the crisis besieging this
\nRepublic? And how many times have we lamented over the troubles
\nthat have a real potential to deepen the fissures and further the
\nfragmentation and disintegration of our Republic?<\/p>\n
Now, again, we come at a crossroads in history. This time, it
\nis the brutish maneuver to pass the flawed and narrow-minded
\neducation bill. The bizarre irony is, those who push the bill
\nstill believe that its enactment will reunite the Republic. Quite
\nthe opposite!<\/p>\n
What is to be done? First, press the executive branch, which
\nneeds empowerment, and experts to take part in thoroughly
\nrevising the bill. Second, make any necessary societal measures
\nto postpone, cancel, or annul the bill.<\/p>\n
In this case, if there are any instances of civil
\ndisobedience, they will not be because of the state, but because
\nour Republic is being dragged into an abyss by the enactment of
\nthe education bill.<\/p>",
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