Government to introduce critical learning
Government to introduce critical learning
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government will allow schools to choose their history
textbooks and teach all the conflicting versions in class so as
to allow students to learn critically about various events in
the past, an official said on Monday.
Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar said that the
decision to allow the use of any textbooks was taken after the
government said it would not make any revision to existing
history textbooks.
The government would also create a wide opportunity for the
publication of other versions of history, he said.
"History teachers should teach wisely all versions of history
to their classes and open discussion on the subject. By doing
this, we're encouraging the thinking process of the students and
letting them criticize historical records," he said.
Malik made the remarks at a joint media conference with State
Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gde Ardika and the Indonesian
Military's (TNI's) head of history and traditional research Brig.
Gen. Busri Boer at the Theater Room of the Divine Pancasila
Monument in Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta.
Both Malik and Ardika planned to invite historians to discuss
the issues around the 1965 aborted coup attempt blamed on the
now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party from an "objective" point
of view.
"The issues will be considered as objectively as possible, but
not necessarily in the form of the government's white book or
reference. It will be one of our initiatives to unify
perspectives on how to evaluate history," Malik said.
He said that there had thus far been many memoirs and books
claiming to show what really happened on the night of the
incident and the role of particular persons in that tragedy.
Busri Boer admitted that even though many versions of the
tragedy had been published, none had yet been verified.
"So far we still stick to the first version since it was based
on evidence and testimonies from those that took part in the
tragedy and from studies around the incident," he said.
The media briefing took place after the ceremony for the
commemoration of National Tragedy Remembrance Day on Oct. 1,
which was formerly known as Divine Pancasila Day.
Monday's ceremony took only about 20 minutes, without any
formalities or visits by the guests to the memorabilia or
exhibits at the monument of the massacre of nine military
generals on Sept. 30, 1965.
No special stage was built for distinguished guests, including
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who presided over the ceremony
that started at 8 a.m.
The routine reading and signing of an oath to safeguard
Pancasila by the speaker of the House of Representatives was also
omitted from the ceremony.
The event was more focused on contemplating the national
tragedy and not creating psychological trauma so the next
generation could learn the values of the bloody tragedy and not
let it happen again, Malik said.