Religious Education
Apr 24th, 2007, in News, by PatungReligion should be included in the national exam.
Chairman of the parliament, DPR, Agung Laksono, says religion should be a required part of the national exam (ujian nasional (UN)) for high school students because Indonesians are still very immoral and decadent. Speaking in Sukoharjo on the 22nd:
The level of moral decadence among Indonesians still hasn’t been reduced even though religious activity is high and there are Islamic boarding schools everywhere.
Not only poor morals but Indonesians were also violent and there were even some schools, such as IPDN, which seemed devoted to training students in violent ways.
Agung Laksono, a religious man.
While currently the only three compulsory subjects for the national exam are Indonesian, English, and Maths, Agung said adding religious education would help improve the morality of young people and benefit the nation in the long term.
The high rate of violence and sexual crimes and other things indicates that there is something wrong with our education system.
Religious education was not given much attention by the government, he said, and this constituted discrimination. republika
19 Comments on “Religious Education”
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aJ says:
There is definitly something wrong with our education system.
I don’t think including religion in the national exam is the missing key.I think moral values is lacking in our education system.
This is just one of the many things.To argue with Mr. Agung Laksono, is it certain that religious people definitely have good morals?
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Janma says:
It’s an Indonesian thing to pay attention to the outer image of things rather than the real issues.
Putting religon in the UN is just the ‘kulit’… it’s not a solution to moral degradation in Indonesia. It’s like keeping your living room clean but having a filthy kitchen and toilet. It looks good, but it’s just a show.Janma.
*RELIGION, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.* (The Devils Dictionary) -
El Gran Combo Puertorico says:
ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH F*CKER.
I can’t stand it anymore. Why is Indonesia soooooo, … pathetic?
Hiks.
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Bas says:
These guys will never understand true moral has nothing to do with religion but with school and parental education. Religion just make people think they have high morality because they follow the rules. Give money when they have to to the people they have to for example. But beside that they keep cheating and stealing money from foreigners with no shame.
Increasing religious teaching will just make people more immoral and fanatic. And they will keep asking: why our people moral is decreasing? We are a religion nation. Hey man, true moral has nothing to do with religion.
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Robert says:
Chairman of the parliament, DPR, Agung Laksono, says religion should be a required part of the national exam (ujian nasional (UN)) for high school students because Indonesians are still very immoral and decadent.
Agung Laksono is one of the many politicians and religious leaders who says that the (alledged) immoral and decadent behaviour is caused by the lack of religion. It is very strange then to see next that he wonders that moral is so low in spite of all the religious activity!
Agung Laksono said:
The level of moral decadence among Indonesians still hasn’t been reduced even though religious activity is high and there are Islamic boarding schools everywhere.
Apparently it didn’t cross his mind that all this religious activity has nothing to do with good moral. You can read as much as possible in Bible or Quran this won’t prevent bad behaviour. Reading about correct behaviour is one, exerting good behaviour another. For example, look at the violence in the Maluku’s or Sulawesi, the people involved didn’t they get enough religious education then?
His problem is, that he is confusing people with robots. A robot is programmed first with actions to perform, next the robot will perform all the pre-programmed actions by itself, no more and no less. A human being on the other hand, can be told hundreds of times what is good behaviour, next the human being can do exactly the opposite and show bad behaviour.Not only poor morals but Indonesians were also violent and there were even some schools, such as IPDN, which seemed devoted to training students in violent ways.
When people are violent they should be arrested by the police and be brought to court to be judged. Is he suggesting now that the people at IPDN aren’t religious, don’t they visit the mosque or church?
Like all the other politicians and religious leaders, also Agung Laksono can not proof that (alledged) immoral and decadent behaviour is caused by the lack of religion. Also Agung Laksono does not substantiate his statements with solid evidence. -
Dymal says:
Again, clear example of how a smart man like Agung Laksono use religion as a commodity.
I bet he knows that including religion on the national exams will not solve the moral problems, and he must aware of corruption issue on haj pilgrim, rumors say that religious affair ministry is one of the most corrupt ministry. And he must hear how much some food/beverage industries need to pay before “halal stamp” is granted.
So if he talk about religion he must aim for something else.
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Sputjam says:
Faith is a personal thing. How can a person with different values and understanding on islam pass an exam conducted by those who are oblivious to the written messages in the koran and emphasise on hadith and sunnah written by mere mortals.
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Andrew says:
Chairman of the parliament, DPR, Agung Laksono, says religion should be a required part of the national exam (ujian nasional (UN)) for high school students because Indonesians are still very immoral and decadent.
Duh. Math, Physics, etc are also in the national exam, but Indonesian scientists in general are still lagging behind their counterparts. What gives?
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Oigal says:
“school students because Indonesians are still very immoral and decadent.”
I know where I would be looking first for immoral and decadent behavior.
Mmmm. Lets see schools or the Government, not really a hard choice.
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Anonymous says:
Andrew,
Math, Physics, etc are also in the national exam, but Indonesian scientists in general are still lagging behind their counterparts. What gives?
The fact that Indoesian scientists are still lagging behind their colleagues from other countries, among other things, has got to do with the following:
1. The level of appreciation for scientists and research in Indonesia. What is the average salary of a scientist/researcher in Indonesia. What is the job market like for researchers? Opportunity to develop your career?
2. Minimum amount of resources (incl. funding) available to them. I suspect many institutions don’t even have access to publications of international conferences and journals.Now, back to the topic: religious education, I believe that if the politicians really care about Indonesian education and human resources, the least that they should focus on is religious education.
Remember how you were always asked about your “cita-cita” during your early schooling. I remember when I was at primary school I answered: I want to be a “Sarjana Ekonomi”, eventhough I didn’t know for sure what “Sarjana Ekonomi” was at that time. “Sarjana Ekonomi” was a quite high achievement at that time. It was more than a decade ago, but I suspect it’s pretty much still the same.
It seems to me that current education system stops at university undergraduate level. University is nothing more than an institution to prepare students to compete in the job market. If our education system continues the way it is now, Indonesia will never be more than a country full of cheap labors, who are only qualitified to handle rough works.Putting more focus on religious education will only make the problem worse.
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Why don’t they make a course for the Government employees instead on moral values? Doesn’t have to include relgious instruction, but where valid it can be great leverage. I mean like the evils of corruption and sewenang wenang attitude and to reinforce the fact that these people are the servants of the people of Indonesia.
Something a bit more modern, not 7th century. -
Ihaknt says:
My toilet doesnt flush..mmm..must be because I am not very religious.
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Agam says:
This DPR Chairman is really represented Indonesian people, stupid and hypocrital.
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anonymous, exactly my point. Making religion part of the national exam doesn’t guarantee anything.
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McFadden says:
Agam said:
This DPR Chairman is really represented Indonesian people, stupid and hypocrital.
Are you Indonesian, Agam? If so, it’s also represented you! There are a lot of smart and honest Indonesian that I know.
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Naga says:
Blind adherence to religion is what is holding Indonesia’s development back, Indonesians need to stop believing in mythology and start believing in themselves.
Only then will they have the confidence to fulfill their potential, only then will the true revolution occur.
Why are they slaves to a handful of unelected Javanese Muslim mafia intent on dictating outmoded and irrelevant morals codes?
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If some Indonesians are honest and smart, for sure they are not politician. Indeed some politicians are very smart, but for them showing that they are smart and honest at the same time is forbidden.
Back to the day when I was in school, now I can say that the way I learned science and religion was just the same.
Teachers were there dictating some words and few weeks later students must answer several question, and the answers must be the same with what had been dictated to pass the exams.
Maybe I was not in a good school, but if some of us have the same feeling, then it could be one reason why we are still lagged behind.
So I agree with Anonymous, making religion as a part of national exam will make things worse, as students (and the system) will be more dogmatic.
Like Naga said, breaking our “link” to the blind adherence will be a big-big-step.
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Phun says:
Agung is a politician and he spoke as a politician should: mischievously and full of agenda. I’m sure he didn’t really know what he was talking about nor his points were based on researches. I reckon figures like Gus Dur and Cak Nur once commented on bringing religious education back home. But this strange opinion was silenced. Well, though I’m not a big fan of both figures, their position makes all the sense to me.
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He has good intention, but the action is poorly thought-out and putting religion into Ujian Nasional will have little to no effect.
I can study very well about my religion but I have all the freedom in the world not to practice it. Same goes with the students, they can study and pass the exam with religious subject included, but that does not necessarily guarantee anything.
The correct approach for me is to increase the quality of education in Indonesia, especially early levels first, as most people can afford that. And the second one is to increase the quality of parenting. Parents in Indonesia are often irresponsible toward their children’s “education”. Parents think that if they had sent the kids to school, mission accomplished. Actually not that simple. School can only do limited things. Children learn most non-academic skills at home. Parents should be more responsible and spend more time with their kids. By doing so they can teach one thing or two every now and then, and the kids will flourish to adults that make their parents proud.
If you ask most people in jail, you’ll know that most of them do not have a “good childhood” with their parents. Some even are “product of an accident” (you know what I mean), and never truly experience how beautiful it is to have parents at home waiting for them. Sad right? And if someone, since they were small, was educated wrongly, it will be very difficult to correct it later on.