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.