Minor changes made to education bill

Minor changes made to education bill

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A few minor changes have been made to the controversial bill on
the national education system, but the debate over several
crucial articles remains unresolved.

Anwar Arifin, deputy chairman of House of Representatives
Commission VI for education and religious affairs, said on Friday
three unresolved articles on educational goals and religious
instruction remained after the special team set up to reformulate
the bill completed its work on Wednesday.

He said a final decision on the three articles points would be
made during a meeting between the House commission and the
government on Monday.

"Let's see what is decided on the unresolved articles on
Monday when all of the members of Commission VI and the
government debate them," Anwar told The Jakarta Post.

Commission VI accepted last week a draft of the bill from a
working committee, with an attached note from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) to review nine
articles. The articles, including the three still unresolved
ones, were left to be debated by a team consisting of legislators
and government officials.

The commission has asked the House to endorse the bill on May
20 to mark National Awakening Day, but it remains to be seen
whether this schedule can be met. The House has still not set a
date for a plenary session to endorse or reject the bill.

PDI Perjuangan has demanded that the special reformulation
team ensure that all of the bill's articles conform with the
preamble of the amended 1945 Constitution, which says that the
state is responsible for creating an educated nation.

The party has also insisted that the national education system
be set up to "educate people" rather that to "create devoted
human beings", as stated in the original draft of the bill.

Regarding Article 13, which requires schools to provide
religious instruction to students in their respective faiths, the
party has suggested that the government leave the matter to
parents and schools.

Other parties are seeking to revise another religious-related
article to allow for the instruction of Confucianism to students
who follow that religion.

"We cannot consider Confucianism as a religion in the bill
because the Ministry of Religious Affairs has written us that the
government has not recognized it as a religion," Anwar said.

But the bill has been revised to allow Confucianism to be
taught as soon as it is recognized by the government.

Also revised was the article concerning falsified diplomas.
Under the revised bill, issuing fake diplomas will be a crime
that carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a Rp 500
million (US$55,000) fine. The previous draft only outlined
punishments for those who used fake diplomas.

Anwar said the team also resolved the debate on academic
freedom. The revised draft of the bill has scrapped limitations
on academic freedom.

Despite the revisions, the bill remains a source of
controversy among the public.

The Cipayung Forum, comprising the Indonesian Muslim
University Student Association, the Islamic Student Association,
the Indonesian Christian Student Movement, the Indonesian
Catholic Student Union and the Indonesian Nationalist Student
Movement, has announced its opposition to the bill, Antara
reported.

The Yogyakarta-based forum said the bill did not reflect the
spirit or value of education, nor did it improve the quality of
the nation's life.

But in South Kalimantan, the Indonesian Muslim Student Union
said the bill honored pluralism, particularly Article 13, which
the group said ensured the right of every student to obtain
instruction in their own religion. The group demanded that the
House endorse the bill.