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Religious Affairs Ministry to create new division on teachers
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Two freelance teachers take turns to teach two classes of students ranging from grade 1 to 6. (JP/Sigit Pamungkas)
T
he Religious Affairs Ministry’s Director General of Islamic Education Kamaruddin Amin told Commission VIII of House of Representatives on Tuesday that the ministry will create a new sub-directorate to focus on teacher issues.
The new directorate will be mandated to address several issues such as qualifications and the certification of teachers, as well as certification allowances to ease the financial burden on teachers.
The directorate will also address the lack of qualified teachers in Indonesia’s Islamic education system. Indonesia lacks teachers with degrees in religion, Kamaruddin explained, and there are also many religion teachers who do not have religious education backgrounds.
In his opinion, this lack of proper credentials among religion teachers has led to intolerance among Indonesian youth.
“Teachers who educate children on religion should have Islamic education backgrounds. Religion cannot be taught by teachers with just a general education background. Those teachers who do not have Islamic education backgrounds could mislead their students and create intolerance.”
Kamaruddin added that the ministry was in the process of selecting the head of the new sub-directorate. Eventually, regional heads of division will also be selected. (rdi/wit)
