Youth losing interest in scout movement

By Ivy Susanti

JAKARTA (JP): Pramuka, the Indonesian Scout Movement, marks its 36th anniversary today amid concerns among its leaders that the nation's youngsters, particularly those in urban centers, are abandoning the movement for more exciting activities.

Fewer and fewer senior high school students are willing to join Pramuka nowadays for reasons that baffle even its leaders.

"I can't read the trend of what today's senior high school students want," chairman Himawan Soetanto said in an interview.

One thing for sure is that students are opting for alternative extracurricular activities at their senior high schools. Mountaineering and hiking are the two most popular outdoor activities they go for.

Most avoid Pramuka, which also involves outdoor activities, if they can. This has prompted at least one senior high school in Jakarta to make it compulsory for all first year students to join, at the risk of making them loath it even more.

Himawan, a retired Army lieutenant general, said alternative activities appear to be more attractive.

"Through introspection, we learn that Pramuka's education and training programs are not attractive to young people," he said, adding: "Pramuka is still not seen as a forum that accommodates the needs of the young."

But change is on the way.

The leadership is currently gathering information from all units throughout the nation. "The issue will be discussed at the national congress next year," he said.

Himawan said, however, that the declining interest in Pramuka among teenagers was a trend found only in Jakarta and big cities. "In villages, the young are still enthusiastic," he said.

He admitted that a lack of activities for senior high school students in Jakarta was partly to blame for the increasing student brawls in the capital.

Pramuka, with its emphasis on education through outdoor activities, could be the remedy, he said. "If those brawling kids in Jakarta could go to open fields more often, then it could open their eyes," he said.

Pramuka, short for the Sanskrit words Praja Muda Karana, boasts 22 million members, or more than 10 percent of the country's population.

Some 90 percent are aged between seven and 25, and the rest are senior members. It counts President Soeharto among its patrons; the late first lady Mrs. Tien Soeharto was particularly noted for her strong support of Pramuka.

The movement's chief objective is to develop the physics and characters of young Indonesians, to instill strong discipline and teach them responsibility in the national building process.

Pramuka divides its members according to age: seven to 10 year olds are cubs or brownies; 11 to 15 year olds are scouts; 16 to 20 year olds are rovers or rangers, and 21 to 25 year olds are senior rovers or senior rangers.

Himawan, who ends his five-year term next year, said he had drawn up a strategic plan to take the movement into the next millennium.

A new five-year program would begin next year which he said would transform the image of Pramuka.

It would still be oriented toward youth's needs, but it would also prepare members to face the increasing global competition in economics, science and technology, he said.