'Students must learn morality by example'

JAKARTA (JP): Schoolchildren studying morality and religion will learn through example, not theory, a legislator and several teachers concurred yesterday.

Dr. Suko Waluyo, on the House of Representatives Commission IX for education, said yesterday that students lack role models in society.

"Pancasila and religion, which are expected to teach basic morals to children, are school subjects. This means the students must compete to get high marks. This is a kind of distortion where morals should be adapted for practical deeds, not for school marks," Suko said.

Ramlani, principal of the state-run junior high school SMP 177 in Bintaro, South Jakarta, said that the teaching of religion and Pancasila is meant to help children tell the difference between good and bad. "However, many teachers lack the ability to analyze. They teach the two subjects as the textbooks describe, without educational information coming from their hearts."

In a separate interview, Anggani, principal of the Islamic Al Izhar elementary school in Cilandak, South Jakarta, said students would gain nothing from being taught about morality or religion without practical examples being set.

The three were interviewed in connection with the recent brawls which claimed three lives in the capital.

Suko, Ramlani and Anggani were of the same opinion that teachers teaching morality and religion should act the part in daily life.

"Unfortunately, teachers have no time to digress from their teaching plans because they have to complete their lessons as required by the curriculum," said Suko, who is also a member of the House faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party.

The teaching of Pancasila ethics, known as PMP, should not be politically oriented, he told The Jakarta Post.

Suko and Ramlani said the teachers, the parents and the students must work together to reduce delinquency, Ramlani said. "Teachers should not let students hang around if a teacher is absent. The students must be given other lessons to keep them busy," Ramlani said.

Parents at home must also be alert to the things their children see and hear on television, he said.

"Students must be aware of negative influences. They must not drink liquor or take drugs," he said.

He also criticized materialistic parents.

Parents should remember three things in their own lives and while bringing up their kids. "First is the head. This means that they and the kids need science and knowledge. The second is the chest which symbolizes morality and conscience. The last is the stomach," he said. "If parents concentrate on the stomach, they will ignore basic moral education for themselves and their kids."

Mustainah, the principal of the Islamic Al Azhar senior high school in Kebayoran Baru, agreed that a good relationship among teachers, parents and students will help curb student brawling.

"Parents always come if we summon them, no matter how busy they are," she said, adding that the parents also call the teachers if they see Al Azhar students loitering outside the school.

Student brawls have become a common sight in Jakarta, making many parents anxious about their children's safety when their kids leave for school.

Endang Djuhara, a father in Ciledug, said that he lets his youngest son Maulana carry a motorcycle chain in his schoolbag for "self defense".

"My son often returns at 9 p.m. due to fights with the students at a neighboring school, SMP 31," he said. Maulana usually hangs around at a friend's house near the school during the fights, which can last for hours.

A mother in Klender, Mrs. Suyatno, told The Post yesterday that she was always worried about her son's safety.

"I ask him to call every time he has to come home late from school. Fortunately my son's school, SMA 61, is one of the clean schools, which never gets involved in street brawls," she said.

Another mother in Bintaro, Sri, said she worries every morning when her first son goes to school. "He usually leaves school at 2:30 p.m. after getting additional class from school. I always call the school or my son's close friends if he's not home by 3 p.m.," she said.

She said her son has a good friend, who is always picked up by his driver after school. "I could not imagine how my son could survive the dangerous routes if he were to go by public bus from his school in Bulungan, Blok M, to Bintaro. A friend of my son was stabbed by a group of students on a bus," she said. (sur/anr/yns)