Schools struggle to pull students into scout movement

JAKARTA (JP): Two senior high schools in Jakarta attest to the losing popularity of the Indonesian Scout Movement (Pramuka) among teenagers.

Each deals with the problem differently.

The First Penabur Christian Vocational High School makes it compulsory for first year male students, while the SMUN 70 state- run high school has virtually ceased its Pramuka activities, although technically its unit still exists.

Teachers in both schools look back to the time, only a few years ago, when Pramuka could still draw enthusiastic teens.

"When we introduced Pramuka as an optional extracurricular subject seven or eight years ago, it attracted many students," Dinah, principal of the First Penabur school, said.

"The number has since dwindled," she said.

The school eventually decided to make Pramuka membership compulsory for first-year male students. Female students, because they had more options for extracurricular activities, were not obliged to join.

"It posed a dilemma for us, because students were not serious in Pramuka. They felt they were forced into it," Dinah said.

Most students, given the opportunity, would choose mountaineering and hiking over marching and breaking codes and signals and all the other things they have to do in Pramuka.

"Youngsters want something relaxing and less taxing on their brains. They don't want to be reminded of classrooms," she said.

"They want to be free, they want to get away from the heavy load of their classes," said Erens Sarindat, a teacher who coordinates the student's organization.

"The scout movement started losing its appeal in 1990," Amir Surawinata, SMUN 70 deputy headmaster who coordinates the student's organization in the school, said.

SMUN 70 introduced Pramuka as an optional extracurricular subject in the 1980s, but as time passed, students were more attracted to other subjects such as music, mountaineering and even the Indonesian Red Cross Youth movement.

Amir said the school administration had even bought a complete set of musical instruments for a marching band, hoping it would capture the interests of youths. It was proven wrong.

He did not know the reason why senior high schools were abandoning Pramuka, but speculated that it had to do with the uniform and the attributes they have to wear. (09)