School's out -- but not all are happy going home

School's out -- but not all are happy going home

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): The loud ring of the bell that marked the end of
school time on Wednesday had a different meaning for students.
Most of them were entering a long vacation as many schools are
closed during the fasting month of Ramadhan, which started on
Thursday.

Nina greets the vacation with delight. Early on Wednesday, she
and her friends had already planned what they would do on
Thursday. They had packed some clothes and were rushing to change
when the school day ended.

"I will spend the day hanging around in Pondok Indah Mall with
my friends, eating or watching movies. We have holidays for a
month so we can go to the mall again," the second-year student of
SMU 6 senior high school in the Blok M area told The Jakarta
Post.

She is aware, however, of her obligations during Ramadhan.
Together with her close friends, she will perform Ramadhan's
evening prayer tarawih -- highly recommended during the
observance of the fasting month -- at the Al Azhar Grand Mosque
in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

"So we still see each other while we are performing our
duties," said Nina, who was already dressed in her "new uniform".
Most shopping malls do not allow students in school uniform to
enter.

Some students, however, are not excited by the long vacation.

"It's going to be a long and boring vacation. I can't take
courses like my friends, my family is not rich," said Achmad, a
student at SMU 35 senior high school in the Bendungan Hilir area
in Central Jakarta.

After the bell rang at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, he still hung
around at the school with some of his friends, reluctant to go
home. He said he might spend the Ramadhan vacation at home with
his family, helping his mother to look after his little sister
while waiting to break the fast.

Under a new regulation announced on Dec. 3 and jointly signed
by the Minister of National Education, Yahya Muhaimin, and
Minister of Religious Affairs Tolchah Hasan, schools would be
closed during Ramadhan to give children more time to learn
spiritual and ethical lessons at home.

In all, most schools will be closed for 37 days and will
resume activities a week after the Idul Fitri holiday, which
comes at the end of the fasting month.

The regulation reversed a 1978 ruling under then president
Soeharto who declared that schools should stay open during
Ramadhan. It applies to all primary and secondary schools
throughout the country. Private non-Muslim schools are given the
freedom to adjust their schedule on the condition that they
permit Muslim students to take time off.

The decision was not warmly greeted by all parents, many of
whom said that students were better off spending the long days at
school.

Inti N. Subagyo, mother of a second year student at Al Azhar
Islamic senior high school in South Jakarta, shared her son's
opinion about staying at home during the fasting month.

"My son does not like the thought of doing nothing at home. He
told me that fasting will go unnoticed when you're busy doing
something ... suddenly, it's time to break the fast," she told
the Post.

Traveling was not a good way to spend the vacation either, she
added, since it would not be fun without eating out.

She said Al Azhar would be closed from Dec. 8 until Dec. 12
but it would resume activities on Monday for the next two weeks.
The school will be closed again a week before and after Idul
Fitri. During the two weeks, the students will be given religious
and ethical lessons with shorter learning hours.

"But Al Azhar students have plenty of activities they organize
on their own, such as breaking the fast together with the
school's foster children," Inti said.

While announcing the decision, the government also urged
schools to organize religious activities for students to help
them fill in their days. Private and non-Muslim schools can
arrange their own schedule but must show flexibility toward
Muslim students.

SMU 35's principal, Lam Nainggolan, admitted that earlier, the
school's teachers were not too happy with the new ruling, fearing
its 750 students would not catch up learning all the subjects in
time for the coming school examinations.

"But after further evaluation, we found it posed no problems
at all, since the holiday at the end of each school year will be
cut short from four to two weeks. So the number of school days
will not be much different," he said.

The school will organize a three-day course on Islam, better
known as pesantren kilat, as wished by the students.

Head of the Catholic Education Board, Col. Louise Coldenhoss,
told the Post earlier that Catholic schools would continue to
hold classes during Ramadhan.

"We will give Muslim students a holiday, but our schools will
stay open, and the teachers will continue with their jobs," she
said, adding that the board would further discuss the ruling.

She added that even before the ruling, Catholic schools had
always been flexible with their Muslim students, such as letting
them go home earlier than the rest during the fasting month.
"This arrangement remains," she said.

She noticed, however, the ruling appeared at odds with the
wishes of some Muslim students and their parents, many of whom
preferred their children to benefit from the teachers'
supervision.

"For years I have had many Muslim students, and they prefer to
come to school during the fasting month in order to pass the
day."

The chairman of the Ricci Catholic School Foundation, Hubertus
Kasan Hidayat, said his schools would abide by the board's
decision.

Education observer and prominent Muslim scholar Arief Rachman
appreciated the government's goodwill in issuing the new ruling
since it would allow students to learn more about Islam.

"I don't want to say whether the decision is good or not, but
I will say it means well," Arief told the Post.

He hoped Ramadhan's spirit and the new decision would boost
religious awareness, bring closeness and unity among people, and
importantly, enhance each family in terms of providing them more
time to perform spiritual worship.

Arief, who is also the principal of Lab School in Rawamangun,
East Jakarta, said that at his school, he preferred to do it in a
democratic way, by directly asking his 800 students about their
own preference, whether staying at school or at home.

"During Monday's (flag-raising) ceremony at the school, I
asked them and it turned out that most of them wanted to stay at
school."

The ruling would not bring too many changes to the school
since it regularly organized extensive religious activities
during Ramadhan.

Apart from religious teachings, including pesantren kilat, the
school's third year students will continue to prepare for final
exams from Monday to Friday but with shorter hours, from 8 a.m.
to 11:30 a.m. The school is usually open five days a week from 8
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, first and second year students are
given homework that should be submitted on Mondays.