The poor Islamic school of Indonesia

The poor Islamic school of Indonesia

Santi W.E. Soekanto, Contributor, Jakarta

While the international media spotlight recently fell on one
madrasah (Islamic school) in Indonesia, the vast majority of
these schools do not have anywhere near such a dramatic
existence. In fact, thousands of madrasah are gasping under the
dual burdens of surviving funding shortages and fighting their
poor image as learning institutions.

"This is an ordinary madrasah, not at all a model school,"
said Komaruddin, the principal of Ibtidaiyah "Raudhatul Islam"
(Garden of Islam) in the Muara Gembong subdistrict of Bekasi,
which was among the worst affected areas during the recent
flooding.

"No, we have never been invited to any local or national
competition on anything," Komaruddin said in his office, which
has a leaky ceiling. "What can we say, such competitions are
usually expensive anyway."

Indeed, the compound of the school, which has 310 students, is
dilapidated and grim. "We work here as teachers because of Allah;
we understand that it is a form of worship for us to impart
knowledge to the students," Komaruddin said. "But I am sorry to
say the government, in this case the Ministry of Religious
Affairs, has yet to give proper attention to the madrasah."

A number of the teachers are classified as "substitutes",
receiving only small honorariums and no benefits.

With teachers earning such meager salaries, Komaruddin said,
how can the government expect the madrasah to develop and become
better learning institutions? How can the government expect that
madrasah will ever be able to meet the goal of education -- as
set out in the bill on the national educational system, currently
under deliberation, to "develop students' potential to believe
and be faithful to one God, and to be healthy, competent,
skilled, creative, independent, aesthetic, democratic,
responsible people with civic and nationalistic sensibilities".

Madrasah, for a great number of people in Jakarta, are not the
first schools of choice for their children. Countless Muslim
parents who find "modern" Islamic schools such as Al Azhar
prohibitively expensive turn to Christian schools rather than
considering madrasah.

"I wonder, have you heard about madrasah gaining a national
reputation because of their achievements?" one Muslim mother
said. "I haven't."

Minister of Religious Affairs Agil Husin Al Munawar, under
whose jurisdiction the madrasah operate, admitted recently that
"less than 20 percent" of madrasah graduates continued their
studies at university.

"Unless we help them prepare, the remaining 80 percent will go
on to be unemployed because their skills are inadequate and
employment opportunities limited," he said.

There are some 35,000 madrasah in the country, from
kindergartens (Raudhatul Athfal), elementary schools (madrasah
Ibtidaiyah), junior high schools (madrasah Tsanawiyah) and high
schools (madrasah Aliyah).

According to data, there are 22,035 Ibtidaiyah across the
country, 10,365 Tsanawiyah and 3,705 Aliyah. Indeed, 16 percent
of all school-age children in Indonesia study at madrasah -- this
is especially true in regions where madrasah are more popular,
such as South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Aceh and West Nusa
Tenggara.

Unlike the pesantren that usually have a specific emphasis,
such as learning the Koran by heart, the madrasah were conceived
to bridge the concurrent demands for general knowledge and
religious instruction. Hence the arrangement of 40 percent
Islamic teaching and 60 percent general knowledge -- a curriculum
designed by both the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the
Ministry of National Education.

"Madrasah is the answer to public demands for learning
institutions that help students master science and technology, as
well as religious instruction," the Ministry of Religious Affairs
stated in a policy paper.

The government, however, runs only 6 percent of all madrasah
-- a fact that is blamed for the poor quality of many of the
institutions. Now, scholars at the religious affairs ministry
have delineated a number of steps to be taken to empower and
improve these institutions, and to close the gap between the
quality of basic competence attained by madrasah and pesantren
students and those from general schools.

But the major question is how will Indonesia fund this
campaign when it only allocates 3.8 percent of the state budget
for education? Compare this to Russia and China, which allocate
at least 25 percent of their budgets for education, or Malaysia
and Singapore which provide over 10 percent of their budgets, and
Taiwan which sets aside 15 percent of its state budget for
education?

The answer to this question may determine how successful the
government is in putting madrasah on level with other schools in
the country.