Government to regulate education bill

Government to regulate education bill

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Implementation of the national education bill would be set out in
government regulations, House of Representatives Commission VI
for education deputy chairwoman Chotidjah HM Saleh said
Wednesday.

The regulations would ensure effective implementation, she
said.

The controversial bill was passed on Wednesday night after the
House failed to reach agreement during a plenary session on
Tuesday. -- to be taken out if the House delays to pass the bill
again.

Chotidjah, of the United Development Party (PPP), said that
although the regulations were the prerogative of the president,
the House would provide input.

She was commenting on concerns that the public and school
administrations would have difficulty understanding the law.

The controversy centers on Article 13 (1), point A, which
stipulates that all students, even in religious-based private
schools, must receive religious instruction in their own faith.

The religious teachers will be provided by the central and
regional administrations.

The chairman of a committee deliberating the education bill,
Anwar Arifin, said earlier that the bill was not the state
interfering in religious matters.

The Golkar faction legislator said the article was designed to
guarantee all students' basic rights.

The bill was designed to ensure a Muslim student studying at a
Catholic school could be taught Islam by a Muslim teacher and
vice versa, he said.

However, the bill does not say how many students from a
particular faith a school must have before the state provides a
religious teacher.

Chotidjah said that during deliberations some legislators
proposed setting the minimum number of students at 20.

The religious instruction would be knowledge based, not ritual
based, she said.

The bill does not provide for penalties for any breaches of
the legislation, though the laws will be monitored by the House.

The bill has divided the nation, with many Muslims supporting
the bill, while minority Christian groups and secular Muslim
organizations, including the largest Muslim organization in
Indonesia, oppose it.