T

he Defense Ministry is proposing to make patriotism a subject in schools in a bid to revive nationalism among students.

Calling the subject Bela Negara (Defending the State), the ministry'€™s defense potential director general, Timbul Siahaan, said that patriotism values should be included in the national curriculum.

'€œWe have seen that moral values in Indonesia have deteriorated and we must cultivate the values of bela negara among youth,'€ he said.

Timbul said that bela negara should avoid taking a '€œparamilitary approach'€ in favor of encouraging students to contribute to their country and to value the country'€™s independence.

He lamented that students and young people spent their time fighting each other or were involved in bad habits like drinking alcohol.

'€œThese kinds of deeds are not part of our national identity. This is the reason why we need youngsters to understand the value of bela negara,'€ Timbul said.

He elaborated that bela negara contained five values: loving the country; being aware of being part of the nation; believing in Pancasila as the state ideology; being willing to sacrifice for the nation; and having the ability to defend the country.

To make the idea a reality, the Defense Ministry would work with the Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry and other relevant ministries.

Federation for Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI) secretary-general Retno Listyarti told The Jakarta Post that the idea to put bela negara into the curriculum as a new subject would overburden students.

'€œIt would be more feasible if patriotism were attached or incorporated into other subjects like sociology, history and civic education,'€ Retno said.

Besides planning to make bela negara part of the school curriculum, the ministry also plans to revive university paramilitary group (Menwa) as another effort to build patriotism.

'€œToday, Menwa is a student activity unit after the government revoked the joint ministerial decrees during the reformation era,'€ said the ministry'€™s state defense director, First Adm. M. Faisal.

Faisal said that the ministry expected Menwa to promote bela ne-gara values among fellow students.

'€œWe will work with other ministries to meet that purpose,'€ he said.

Ibnu Hamad, spokesperson for the Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry, welcomed the idea of cultivating patriotism among students, but also said it would be better to blend it into existing subjects.

'€œWe have been criticized about how heavy the [2013] curriculum already is. It is better to incorporate it in the PKN [civic education],'€ Ibnu told the Post on Wednesday.

Implemented nationwide in July, the 2013 curriculum is currently under review following criticisms that it was too taxing on students and teachers.

Ibnu said several existing subjects in elementary schools helped build character and taught students about the importance of loving the nation.

'€œThis means that the defense and education ministries are both ready to educate the young generation better,'€ he said.

Ibnu added that patriotism could be taught outside the classroom as well, through activities like National Scouts (Pramuka) or basic leadership training for students.