Rural Indonesians excel at ideology, agency says

Rural Indonesians excel at ideology, agency says

JAKARTA (JP): People from small towns and rural areas outside
Java are just as good, if not better, than their urban and
metropolitan counterparts in absorbing and understanding the
Pancasila ideology, a senior government official says.

In recent years most of the winners of the quiz contests on
Pancasila organized by BP7, the government agency which oversees
the holding of courses on the ideology, came from rural areas
outside Java, BP7's Deputy Chief Poedjo Moeljono said.

Many of these winners attended "unpopular" schools and
universities, proving that even the best schools are not
necessarily the best teachers of the state ideology, Poedjo told
reporters yesterday.

"Since 1988, most winners of the P4 quiz contests have not
been participants from popular schools and universities," he
said.

P4 is the concept of implementation of the Pancasila in the
people's daily lives. BP7 oversees the teaching of Pancasila in
schools and universities, as well as the holding of the P4
courses at universities and those organized for people in
leadership positions in and outside government circles.

Poedjo was speaking at a press conference to announce the
holding of another national contest on P4 in Jakarta next week.

BP7 chief Soeprapto said this year's contest, to held at the
Haj Dormitory at Pondok Gede, East Jakarta, will involve 567
participants from the nation's 27 provinces.

In previous years the contest was limited only to a quiz
competition. This year the agency, in response to popular demand,
has expanded on the program and added speech reading contests,
singing contests, discussion contests and simulation contests,
Soeprapto said. The contests are divided into five age
categories.

Soeprapto said the winners of each contest will receive Rp 1.5
million ($690) and a trophy from President Soeharto.

The national contest brings together the best people in the
subject from Indonesia's 27 provinces. They were selected after
similar contests were held at local levels in July. (imn)