T

he Setara Institute, a human rights watchdog, released a report on the religious tolerance of high school students in Jakarta and Bandung, West Java on Tuesday.

Setara Institute researcher Aminudin Syarif said the survey was conducted in 171 state high schools in both cities with 760 students participating. The survey was conducted in April.

The survey found that 61.6 percent of the participants tolerated religious diversity and 35.7 percent were passive-intolerant, which means those students do not voice improper opinions about other religions. Only 2.4 percent were active-intolerant and 0.3 percent of the participants agreed with extremists.

“Those 0.3 percent agree with what the Islamic State (IS) movement has done and support terrorism,” Aminudin said.

Education activist Retno Listyarti said that teachers had important roles to cope with religious intolerance in schools because most students would follow their actions.

“Teachers should be taught about nationality and diversity, so they can teach and be role models for their students. We cannot ask students to accept our religious diversity, if their teachers are intolerant,” Retno said.