Experts hail rounding out of history textbooks

JAKARTA (JP): Two observers have supported the plan to revise school history textbooks, arguing it will help students put recent tumultuous changes in the country into perspective.

University of Indonesia sociologist Paulus Wirutomo and head of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Soefjan Tsauri separately agreed that the revision endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Culture was needed following recent developments in the social, economic and political spheres.

"Students must be given an objective view about history because there have been huge social changes here," Paulus said.

"Therefore, it is important to introduce students to the logic of history. In this part, teachers will play significant roles as they can present a proportional view of history."

History is a process, he said, and the current changes have created confusion among students because they suddenly received different versions of historical events which diverged from rigid traditional teachings under the 32-year Soeharto regime.

"In the New Order era, history was engineered, and became 'the whole truth', by (the ruling grouping Golkar). For instance, (former president) Soeharto was described as a hero. That's it, no other explanations, and students have swallowed that for years.

"Suddenly, the regime of Soeharto, collapsed. Now what has happened? Many controversies emerged, and many 'shocking' and bold information has been released. Many students are left in the dark here."

Students must be taught to see that history has various dimensions, from power to politics, so they can become wise in understanding the past, Paulus added.

Soefjan shared a similar opinion.

"Information runs very fast these days. We have to be wise and careful in responding to the changes.

"Students need to be given new ways in studying history," Soefjan said on Thursday after a meeting with President B.J. Habibie in the office of the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology.

Therefore, he said, the revision of history study must be done by historians in cooperation with related ministries.

Paulus said the review must be done by independent and respected intellectuals.

"It is also important to 'educate' the teachers through discussion on how to give additional information to students. Because the teachers' explanation can become a source of confusion to the children."

Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono said on Thursday that teachers and school principals have reached an agreement to give additional "proportional information" on national history for the next two years.

Among the subjects to be added to the history curriculum were the students' movements in the late 1990s, including the May 12, 1998, shooting of Trisakti University students which triggered massive unrest that led to Soeharto's fall, and the July 27th, 1996, incident when an attack on the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters sparked rioting and vandalism in Jakarta.

Educator Drost S.J. disagreed with the idea of putting additional subjects into history lesson.

"There are two reasons. First, because the curriculum is already burdensome to students.

"Second, I think all of these recent incidents, such as student movements were momentous and emotional, so it is too soon to consider it part of history," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

According to Drost, history is the result of past incidents which have been investigated and analyzed scientifically.

"Recent allegations emerging about the 1965 coup of (the outlawed) Indonesian Communist Party, for instance, could not be considered as part of history lesson. Papers and TV shows presented the controversy, but the main incident has not been thoroughly restudied yet.

"Such recent incidents actually must be given as part of sociology or state administration lessons, not history, because the economic and political issues are still changing," he said.

Juwono said on Thursday the study of history was continuing as usual. "We could not just stop giving lessons and withdraw millions of history books. Therefore, the teachers must be ready to give extra explanation."

Juwono also said Soeharto's resignation on May 21 would be included as additional history information. (edt)