Govt urged to review policy on scout movement recruitment
Govt urged to review policy on scout movement recruitment
JAKARTA (JP): A senior executive of the Indonesian Scout
Movement (Pramuka) urged the government on Sunday to abandon its
policy which forces students to join the movement.
"I will ask the Ministry of Education and Culture to abandon
the policy launched 10 years ago," said Sundoro Syamsuri,
Pramuka's deputy chairman.
He said he would use a kind of "Eastern culture" in his bid to
persuade the government to abandon the policy, but refused to
give details.
Sundoro emphasized the importance of voluntary enrollment in
attracting young people to join the movement.
"By emphasizing a voluntary approach instead of the obligatory
approach, we will obtain scout members who are really concern
with the movement," he said, adding that the devotion of scouts
to the movement would increase the quality of both the
organization and its members.
"Revoking the policy will reduce the number of scouts. But
that's OK, as we prefer the quality of the members rather than
their quantity," Sundoro, a retired rear admiral, told The
Jakarta Post on Sunday at the sidelines of the 30th Anniversary
of Pramuka's Syailendra Group at SD Al Ikhlas, Cilandak, South
Jakarta.
The Syailendra group comprises three junior high schools --
SMP Yayasan Pendidikan Kita (Yapenka), SMP Al Ikhlas and SMP 68
Cilandak -- and two elementary schools -- SD Yapenka and SD Al
Ikhlas. All are located in Cilandak, South Jakarta.
Hundreds of students and their parents packed the SD Al Ikhlas
compound in the annual program which started at 8 a.m.
The program marked the anniversary of the Syailendra Group and
also aimed to raise funds to finance scout activities.
Similar fund-raising activities are scheduled to be held in
three other cities -- Surabaya, Bandung and Semarang -- in April
and May, sponsored by Kiwi Brands Indonesia, which produces shoe
polish.
An SD Yapenka employee said that actually there was no
obligation for students to join the movement in her school.
"We let the students choose the extracurricular activities
which are appropriate with their interest," said Endang, 40, who
has been with the movement for 20 years.
Indeed, she said, as time went by, many students preferred to
join other extracurricular activities which were considered to be
more modern, like basket ball or music.
Aldi, a sixth grader at SD Yapenka, however, said that he had
been asked by a teacher to choose Pramuka as the most appropriate
extracurricular activity.
"The teacher asked me to join Pramuka to avoid useless
activities after school such as hanging around malls," he said.
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