Education bill debate still unresolved

Education bill debate still unresolved

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A full-team House of Representatives and Minister of National
Education Abdul Malik Fadjar failed to reach consensus on three
contentious issues during the fourth lobbying session on
Wednesday.

With no progress made on the bill's deliberation after a
series of lobbying and consultation meetings dating back to last
Thursday, the prospect of a vote is still there.

To underline the significance of the bill, House Speaker Akbar
Tandjung of Golkar and his three deputies -- Soetardjo
Soerjogoeritno of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan), Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening
Party (PKB), and A.M. Fatwa of the Reform faction -- joined the
debate midway, but were unable to settle the dispute.

The legislators and the education minister agreed after a
marathon debate that lasted over five hours to adjourn the
consultation meeting until June 9, one day before the date set
for the bill's endorsement.

Sources said that the decision to adjourn the meeting was made
at the request of PDI Perjuangan faction chairman Roy BB Janis,
as the largest political bloc wanted to consult party chairwoman
Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is also the President.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, Akbar said the House
and the government managed only to reach "an interim agreement"
on two of the three contentious issues.

"We hope we can settle the problems on Monday. If so, we will
not have to go to a vote on those issues," Akbar told a press
conference. Minister Malik Fadjar, Soetardjo, Muhaimin,
Taufikurrahman (chairman of House Commission VI on education),
and Anwar Arifin (chairman of the committee deliberating the
bill), accompanied Akbar during the media briefing.

The three unsettled issues are the introduction which forms
the basis of the bill, the function and role of national
education, and the recognition of five religions in the country.

Under the interim agreement, the fourth paragraph of the
Preamble to the 1945 Constitution would be added to the original
version of the bill's introduction.

The factions and the government also agreed to that students
could study the five recognized religions in class. Religious
instruction will be given by the government and/or the community,
the modified Article 31 (1) of the bill says.

However, the factions remain far apart when it comes to
functions and goals of education.

The largest faction, the PDI Perjuangan, and the
Military/Police faction insisted that the functions and the aims
of education as defined by the bill be changed.

Legislator Jos Rahawadan of the Indonesian Nationhood Unity
(KKI) faction said his faction was also demanding that the
functions and aims of education be changed.

Small in number, the KKI faction has no representative on the
commission.

Article 3 states that the function of national education is to
create an intellectually developed nation by nurturing
capabilities, character, and cultural awareness, while Article 4
says national education is aimed at producing citizens possessed
of religious faith, rationality, good health, education, skills,
creativity, independence, and democratic awareness.

The PDI Perjuangan, TNI/Police and KKI factions are insisting
that national education be aimed at creating intellectually
developed individuals without reference being made to religious
faith or rationality.