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Intolerant schools cause for alarm, but humane approach necessary: Experts
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A motorcyclist passes a mural depicting representatives of multiple religions in Cinere, Depok, West Java, on Wednesday. (JP/P.J. Leo)
T
he recent government crackdown on hardline Muslim mass organization Khilafatul Muslimin, which is thought to have either funded or is affiliated with a number of educational institutions throughout the country, has sown fresh concerns over the threat of intolerant education in schools.
Authorities cracked down on the group, alleged to be looking to replace the state ideology of Pancasila with the caliphate, following a series of public outings by the group in Jakarta in late May. Police have now arrested two dozen members, including their leader Abdul Qadir Hasan Baraja, for violating the 2017 Mass Organization Law.
Educators say the discovery of dozens of Islamic boarding schools operated by the Khilafatul Muslimin should be a cause for alarm, calling the government to increase monitoring and guidance of schools down to the grassroots level.
“The lackluster supervision by the education and religious affairs ministries is something we all lament,” Feriyansyah of the Education and Teachers Association (P2G) said in a press statement last week.
“How could schools, suspected of being affiliated or even sheltered by the [Khilafatul Muslimin], go unnoticed for decades. This is a fatal collective failure,” he added.
Deputy secretary-general for the Indonesian Teachers’ Association (PGRI), Dudung Abdul Qodir, also urged the government to revisit its school-monitoring system, saying that it should not be difficult to filter out radical schools as long as the government utilizes a more grassroots approach.
According to Dudung, the government should start by providing support and guidance for teachers and school administrators to ensure that education falls in line with the national ideology.
