Govt sets up team to revise history books
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono has called on the country's teachers to give students a balanced account of President Soeharto's resignation in May.
On Monday, Juwono announced that the government has set up a team to improve the national curricula for elementary, junior and senior high schools in the country. On Tuesday he added that the ministry has set up a special team to revise history and civics textbooks.
The minister said he hoped that teachers would not only teach their students about the negative aspects of Soeharto but also discuss his merits, especially his role in putting down the attempted coup by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on Sept. 30, 1965, and suggested that current textbook entries on the former president might have to be modified.
Juwono said that as a major general, Soeharto led Indonesia in crushing the PKI when it attempted to create a communist state.
"It is something unforgettable and cannot be removed from our historical record," Juwono said after meeting with President B.J. Habibie at the Merdeka Palace.
The President is expected to lead a state ceremony to commemorate Pancasila Sanctity Day on Thursday morning, after delivering a state address this evening. The commemoration is in honor of the belief that common faith in the Pancasila state ideology defeated communist aspirations.
All private TV stations are required to relay the government- owned TVRI, which broadcasts a recording of the President's speech.
Juwono acknowledged that many teachers have complained about history textbooks, particularly with regards to chapters covering Soeharto's 32-year rule. Although he did not reveal to which teachers he was referring, he quoted some as saying their students laughed when told that Soeharto sacrificed himself and his family for the country's prosperity.
Official textbooks, from books used by elementary schools up to universities, describe Soeharto as the father of development who brought prosperity and justice to Indonesia.
"Our teachers told us not to trust the textbook, especially the part about the sacrifices made by Soeharto and his family," Novi, a student at a private high school in South Jakarta, said on Tuesday in reference to the civics textbook.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education's director general of elementary and high school education, Indra Djati Sidi, said the government was preparing strict rules to prevent corruption in the procurement of official textbooks.
"I will check the all prices and the production costs," Indra said on Tuesday in Bandung, West Java.
Publishers have complained that only companies with close connections to the relevant authorities in the ministry are awarded contracts to publish schoolbooks.
The procurement of books is financed by the government and a number of international agencies, including the World Bank and Japan's Overseas Economic Corporation Fund (OECF).
Besides looking into suspected corruption in the procurement and publication of textbooks, the ministry is still dealing with a case in which a local official embezzled Rp 30 billion which was to be used to finance the construction of education facilities for junior high schools in West Java. The funds were provided by the OECF.
"The official has returned Rp 800 million. But it does not mean the crime has been put aside," Indra said. (prb/43)