Science takes backseat to religion
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Mirza Faiz Permadi, 7, beams as he shows off his big book of dinosaurs, describing the different types. But his mother Siti Aisyah says upcoming changes to the Indonesian school curriculum may prevent him from making the most of his vivid imagination and
“Mirza is a bright student, but I think if he isn’t taught natural and social sciences in school, he won’t be able to develop his scientific knowledge and skills early,” Aisyah said.
From the start of the new school year in July, science will no longer be taught in the first four of the six years children spend in elementary school.
The curriculum for those years, including Mirza’s class, will be divided into maths, Indonesian language, religion, and civics, which covers patriotism and civic duty. Any science teaching will have to be divided within these topics.
The move is ostensibly to raise standards of education and introduce children to moral and social values.
Education Ministry spokesman Ibnu Hamad said the change to “thematically centred” teaching will not mean that primary science takes a back seat.
“The new curriculum aims to promote student-centred learning,” Hamad said.
Indonesian students, he said, have become too accustomed to rote learning. “The new curriculum encourages students to think critically, inquire and communicate,” he said.
English may have been removed from the official curriculum, but schools can opt to teach it, or any other language, if they can squeeze the extra hours into their schedules, he said.
Study of the pupils’ respective religion – Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or Christianity – will increase from two to four hours a week.
Children need to learn the true teachings so that they do not get lured into extremism, Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also defended the change. “The curriculum must teach our sons and daughters to live in harmony, to practise tolerance and love for peace,” he said.
Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, estimated at 87 per cent of its 240 million people, of whom 36 per cent are under 18.
The academic performance of the country’s 15-year-olds came 57th out of 65 countries ranked by the Programme for International Student Assessment, run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
When assessed specifically for science and maths, Indonesia performed even worse, placing 60th and 61st, respectively.
But policymakers and some teaching professionals place other aspects of personal development above academic prowess.
The headmaster of Gondangdia 01 Elementary School in Jakarta, Kuwadiyanto, said the increase in religious lessons was necessary.
“It’s not only parents’ responsibility to teach children morality,” he said. But critics question the value of emphasising religion.
“There’s nothing new about religion as academic study,” said Achmad Munjid, a professor at the Centre for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies at Gadjah Mada University. “What is odd is the insistence on making religion a compulsory subject in schools using a doctrinal approach.”
