Muhammadiyah halts five-day week trial at its schools

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Muhammadiyah, an influential Moslem organization, announced yesterday that it has ordered all its schools to stop trial runs of the five-day school week.

The announcement came only one day after the government said that it was prepared to back down on the proposal if it proves unpopular.

Muhammadiyah chairman Amin Rais told reporters yesterday that the concept has created unrest among parents, teachers and the general public.

The concept is fraught with religious, social and political sensitivity, he said.

The first victims of the concept were the millions of children who were no longer able to attend afternoon religious schools because the concept crams the studying hours previously spread over six days into five, and means children stay longer at schools, he said.

These children and youths will no longer have the benefit of religious values taught to them every day for at least two hours.

"The five day school week will systematically and for certain kill off the afternoon schools," Amin said.

He said he questioned the intention of Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro in going ahead with the trial operation of the five-day week scheme, knowing that many children attend afternoon religious schools.

"If the concept is adopted, it will only create a young and secular generation of people," he said.

The five-day concept, intended originally to allow children spend more time with their parents, has met unexpected opposition from Moslem leaders.

Originally, the proponents saw the main problem as chiefly technical in that many school buildings are now operating double shifts and that the longer school hours mean that they have to rearrange the way they share the school buildings.

The United Development Party and Golkar have also urged the government to exercise caution in enforcing the concept given the strong reactions from Moslem leaders.

The five-day school week has been tried at a number of selected schools since September and the Ministry of Education and Culture will make an evaluation after six months and a ruling in February. Government officials however said that each school can decide whether or not to try the scheme.

The scheme is introduced at the same time as the government is phasing in the five-day work week for civil servants. The trial run is moving smoothly.

MUI

In view of the protests aired by Moslem leaders, Minister Wardiman on Tuesday met with leaders of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to assure that the government would back down on the proposal if it is found to be unworkable.

Wardiman said the whole point of the tryouts now being done at some schools in Indonesia is to determine the feasibility of the scheme. "If the shortened school week proves ineffective, then it simply doesn't need to be continued."

MUI said it opposes the plan on the grounds that the shortened week -- and the prolonged school hours -- threaten the existence of Moslem religious schools (madrasah diniyah) across the country, which usually hold classes in the afternoons after children finish their regular school day.

MUI chairman Hasan Basri said he expressed "deep concern" over the possible impact of the five-day school week towards the religious schools.

Wardiman said he believed there was an "information gap" about the issue which caused public apprehension.

"You have to distinguish between tryouts and a ratified government decree. Tryouts are meant to assess the feasibility of a proposed policy and have nothing to do with the certainty of its implementation," he said.

He said the ministry, although aware of the many technical and non-technical obstructions the new system may face, considers the tryouts worth carrying out.

Wardiman assured that the government would see to it that Moslem religious schools, which he acknowledged were needed by the society, were not driven out by the new system.

Hasan Basri said MUI understands the government's position but nevertheless asked Wardiman to be "wise and just" in implementing results of the tryout's assessment.(R. Fadjri/pwn)