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.