Promoting transparency at school

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.