National education draft bill 'has no soul'

National education draft bill 'has no soul'

Criticisms and polemic on the draft national education bill have been on the rise. At the end of the deliberation process, a demonstration took place demanding that the House of Representatives delay its decision to deliberate the draft bill into law.

Tuesday's demonstration involved some 2,000 people, comprising teachers, students' parents and members of the Masyarakat Pemerhati Pendidikan Nasional as well as supporters of the Indonesian Catholic Democratic Party.

Strong opposition to point 1a of Article 13 - which gives students the right to receive religious instruction according to their faith from teachers who are of the same religion - was voiced by the Christian and Catholic Educational Councils.

The question is why was the draft bill opposed? The answer is clear: The draft bill has no clear paradigm, but has too strong a religious content. The entire draft bill is full of religious content, yet heterogeneity in religion is an undeniable fact of life in this country.

Article 4, on the objectives of (national) education, contains a very strong religious message, despite the fact that the objective of education is to produce better educated and more intelligent citizens.

The draft bill fails to distinguish between educational institutions, which are entitled to develop science, and places of worship.

The bill also fails to clearly portray the real ideology of national education. Point 6 of Article 5, which says that education should be organized on a basis of public autonomy and accountability and a guarantee of quality, sounds very materialistic.

Given that the drift bill contains articles that could spark controversy, many parties have suggested that the House should not rush to pass it into law. Mistakes in educational programs and legislation could damage the life of the whole country.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta