Radical religion teachers must go: Govt

Deputy National Education Minister Fasli Jalal says he has witnessed strong indications of radicalization of junior and high school students across Indonesia, adding that it was carried out by Islam religion teachers.

“We have seen these radical teachers teaching students the wrong way. We must do something to neutralize [the teaching of religion at schools],” Fasli said Thursday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that the wrong teaching methods had also used for outdoor activities, and urged officials from the Religious Affairs Ministry to address the matter since the training of these teachers was their responsibility.

“We should work hand-in-hand to tackle this problem,” he said.

The findings emerged as a result of a two-year comprehensive study conducted by Bambang Pranowo, a professor at the Indonesia's Islamic State university, at numerous schools in 10 provinces between 2009 and 2010.