Promoting transparency at school

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thus far, high school teacher Retno Listyarti, 35, has met famous Akbar Tanjung twice -- in two quite contradicting situations.

First, when she was 22, Akbar, then the minister of youth and sports, rewarded Retno, along with other young people, a certificate of "Vanguard Youth" for their achievements.

The second occurred more recently, but was not such a friendly and happy occasion as the first, 13 years ago.

Instead, Retno had to be accompanied by two lawyers from the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) to converse with Akbar and his wife Krisnina Maharani, who were also accompanied by their lawyers.

In a star-rated hotel in South Jakarta, the two parties tried to settle a case, in which Akbar accused Retno, a civics teacher at one of Jakarta's top state high schools, SMU 13, of defaming him.

It all started with a new civics textbook for Grade XI written by Retno, published by Esis. The book, a resourceful and pioneering text, contains a chapter about the meaning of openness in civic life.

Retno included an article taken from the Feb. 13, 2004, edition of national daily Kompas on the dissenting opinion of Abdul Rahman Saleh, then one of the Supreme Court's judges in a case involving Akbar and graft allegations.

Below the article, which she included entirely, without omitting or adding anything, she formulated questions for discussion and an essay for the students.

These included: What is your opinion about the facts and legal basis presented by Abdul Rahman Saleh? Was Akbar Tanjung guilty? Did he deserve to be exonerated?

However, Retno would not have been thrust into the spotlight if it were not for Akbar's daughter, Triana Krisandini, who was a Grade XI student at Santa Ursula High School, Central Jakarta, which used Retno's book in its civics class.

Upon reading the part where her father was mentioned, Triana complained to her parents, who made a swift move: They filed a criminal lawsuit, which later was dropped, and a civic lawsuit, scheduled for the first hearing on Sept. 5.

Akbar's lawsuit put Retno and the book in the media spotlight. A mother of two children and a young teacher at state high school SMU 13, Retno is now faced with extra work in meeting reporters, opening support e-mails and discussing legal matters with her lawyers.

"My students really appreciate my situation," Retno told The Jakarta Post after she prepared her legal documents at LBH.

"In the classes I encourage the students to ask anything they want to know. Sometimes, the questions are not related to the class subject but that's OK," she said, adding that many students wanted to discuss current affairs like the Ahmadiyah case (which made the headlines in July after thousands besieged the Ahmadiyah compound). The case sparked debate among Muslim leaders.

Now that she is busy with the lawsuit, she once forgot to seek comprehensive information about something a student asked.

"But my student instead said wisely: Ibu, take your time, I can wait," Retno said, smiling.

That wise statement prompted her to browse the Internet at home to seek more information.

The past weeks have certainly made Retno's life more colorful; she was afraid, but later she has also became more courageous and forbearing. She cried because of the lawsuit, but she also smiled and laughed.

Once, after hearing some criticism about her book, she shared her feelings with her best friend at a small park at SMU 13 compound.

Most of the students were in class, but somehow some of them spotted her crying while talking to her friend.

"A text message appeared on my cell phone. It read: Ibu, be strong, don't cry. God never tests humans beyond their power. He knows you will overcome this," Retno said.

"Another message arrived. This time it said: 'Ibu, you always told us about being tolerant when facing differences. This is the case of a different opinion, so be strong.'"

And Retno cried harder from being deeply touched by her students.

"I love being a teacher, and I really like my students at SMU 13. They are full of questions and the spirit of learning," she said, beaming with pride and smiling.

Retno, who is now a postgraduate student in the political science department at the University of Indonesia (UI), said she would remain a school teacher after she finished her studies on international relations in the Middle East.

"I just wanted to learn more. I do not want to be a university lecturer, although I will get a master's degree. I love teaching in high school," she said.

At SMU 13, she has done more than teaching in class. She was the initiator of a "Green School" project. Retno invited her interested students to do things to help save the environment.

"First, some students and I started a paper recycling project involving waste paper in the school. My students recorded all the information from their experiment, resulting in the best formulation of recycled paper," she said.

Later, the Green School group made compost from the school's garbage. The most popular activity was the plastic bag recycling project, in which they collected used plastic bags and made colorful fancy shopping bags out of the junk.

"I don't count the extra energy and money I've had to supply, because I love the activity, but God is fair," she said.

In 2004, because of the environmental science projects, she received an award for science from Japan-based Toray Science Foundation.

"I got Rp 17.5 million (US$1,750). I bought things I had long wanted -- a videocamera and a laptop computer," Retno said.

Retno, who graduated from Jakarta State University (formerly the Institute of Education and Teaching), obviously loves studying, reading and keeping up with current affairs.

The civics textbook she wrote in 19 months contained updated information about democracy, transparency, corruption and globalization.

For every subject, she inserted other sources like the related websites. She even included a copy of a documentary film about foreign debt directed by John Pilger.

"Pilger has given me approval to copy his film," she said, adding that she knew about the movie when she watched it at the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), where her husband used to work.

"I wrote the book based on the curriculum, which stated that teaching should use as much information as possible," she said.

"I like critical students, as my students are now. From teaching them, I have learned a lot myself," Retno said.