The bombs in London and Islamic schools in Indonesia

C.G. Moghe, Jakarta

"Youth are the salt of the Nation" -- Mahatma Gandhi. Can this be true of the British youths, after some of them bombed the hapless travelers on the London underground and the bus?

There have been several theories about the motivation driving the perpetrators after the bombs exploded in London, killing and injuring several. The victims had no idea whatsoever about any of the global conflicts, which are said to be behind the incidents. One of the theories, very strongly and frequently aired, has been about the exposure the perpetrators had to the Islamic Schools Madrasa in Pakistan as well as to the Islamic Teachings in general and the "wicked" impact of such exposures on the psyche of the perpetrators.

In general, therefore the developed world, once again, has started looking askance to this system of education, trying to pin all that is wrong in this world on to this system of education.

No doubt, apart from the Madrasa religious orientation, its economics and availability added to the growth of this system in many of the developing Islamic countries. In the case of Indonesia, the conventional schools, in a very expensive way, teach the students, some conventional wisdom, while the Islamic Schools (such as the pesantren), in addition, also provide a place to stay and enough food both for the body and the soul. Why should there be any doubts then, in the minds of the general population, about these schools, even if the Western world may dislike such a system, for reasons of its own?

The education delivered through pesantren in Indonesia, can thus be considered very useful and relevant, in an optimal way, keeping in mind the cost borne by the students.

No doubt these schools take care of most needs of the students, complete their education in a very conventional way with a highly religious conviction, and in general prepare the student to enter the real world, where one has to earn a livelihood for own self and family.

On one hand the world is getting more and more competitive, with each new entrant to the labor pool being expected to be perpetually better equipped, with skills, some of which were not even in existence just 25 years ago (e.g. computer literacy). On the other hand, the job opportunities in Indonesia, for various reasons, may not as plenty as the rate at which the population is growing. The students entering the pool of hopeful job seekers, in general start off with a serious handicap, which is further acute for those who have had education with religious bias.

The socio-economic developments post-economic crisis have amply demonstrated that the lack of job opportunities leads to the youth seeking alternative living/solace on the street, as beggars or small vendors or in extreme cases as drug pushers/users. Frustration for long duration arising out of lack of opportunities to earn a decent livelihood can only lead to stronger hatred and declining social stability.

If the religious schools or even the general schools ignore development of employable skills, the threat of formation of the spark of hatred -- whether against the west or against the whole society -- and the young population taking a wrong direction can not be ignored.

Sociologists in Britain think that one of the problems leading to the British Muslim youths (mostly second/third generation Asian migrants) taking the task of "punishing the white man" in their own hands was the high unemployment rate in this segment of British Society. As against the general unemployment rate of about 5 percent during 2003-3004, the unemployment rate for Muslim males was about 15 percent.

The religious as well as the general schools thus have a tremendous responsibility: that of looking after the future of the youth and thus the whole nation, not only in the next world but also in this world. One of the undesired effect of the monetary crisis in 1998 to 2001 was serious malnourishment for infants and babies, the physical mental capabilities of the youth presently in schools and entering the labor pool in the next 5 to 10 years may perhaps be sub-par. How can they equip themselves for this critical task?

Unless all the elements of the society join in the task, the results may be disastrous. Such collaborative education can take many forms. The prestigious institutions such as Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) at present produces ample crop of civil and private sector administrators and managers.

IPB can collaborate with the religious schools, most of students being from rural areas, to make them successful technicians in the fields of agriculture, plantations, bee- culture, other similar areas, to be able to disperse this population in their home villages, with skills which can feed them and start a lot of local economic activities.

ITB can, on its own, or together with rich regional authorities like Kutai Kertanagara educate these students for skills related to mining, irrigation, workshops for taking care of agro/mining equipment and other similar skills.

The schools in Indonesia should take heed of the western criticism about the schooling in Muslim countries, not because of the religious implications but the extrapolated social threats arising out of the students being presently ill equipped for the task of getting ready to be a productive part of the Indonesia society.

The writer has been working more than 33 years in banking, financial services and projects. He can be reached at cmoghe@indosat.net.id