More groups join the chorus against education bill
More groups join the chorus against education bill
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
More groups in the archipelago joined North Sulawesi's move on
Friday to reject the newly endorsed education bill by filing a
petition for a judicial review with the Supreme Court.
The East Java-based Indonesian Education Watch (IEW) has
planned to also file a petition for a judicial review against the
bill.
"Our colleagues from North Sulawesi have initiated the
judicial review against the bill, and we will follow them on it,"
IEW chairwoman Anita Lie told Antara.
Anita said although the bill had been changed several times,
the revisions were not substantial.
Moreover, the bill, bearing the spirit of centralization, was
a contradiction to the Regional Autonomy Law and the concept of
school-based education, which reflects decentralization, she
said.
Religious leaders and principals of private schools from Papua
met Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday to voice their objections to
the controversial bill.
The Papuan delegation comprises religious leaders and school
principals of the Protestant, Catholic, Islamic, Hindu, and
Buddhist faiths.
"They raised questions on a number of articles which were
rejected because they could inflict losses to the people of the
nation," noted priest Herman Awom said.
Christian leaders from Papua, North Sulawesi, Maluku and East
Nusa Tenggara also agreed to voice their demands to separate from
Indonesia if the bill disrupted the Christian education system.
Earlier, the North Sulawesi administration said that it would
file a petition for a judicial review with the Supreme Court as
part of its campaign against the bill.
The move has gained support from the North Sumatra provincial
legislature, some municipalities and a group of concerned
citizens.
Another group whose members come from various Christian-
majority provinces in the country has also rejected the bill.
The bill was endorsed in the absence of the largest faction,
the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), on
Wednesday evening.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has 30 days in which to sign
the bill, but even if she fails to sign it within that period, it
will automatically go into effect.
In theory, Megawati, the chairwoman of PDI Perjuangan, can
block the bill by refusing to sign the necessary government
regulations to implement it.
Anita went on to say that in addition to rejecting the bill,
the IEW would also monitor the drafting of the government
regulations for implementing the bill.
The bill requires 10 government regulations.
"Either the bill or the government regulations will just add
to the problems because our aspirations have not been
accommodated," she said.
Arguments for and against the bill center on the government's
intervention in education and the requirement for schools to
provide religious instruction for students according to their
respective faiths.
Many private Christian schools have large numbers of Muslim
students and there is apparently fear among Muslims that those
students may be converted away from Islam.
However, the Christian groups see the stipulation as a state
intervention into private education institutions.