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. (01)