World Magazine
JAKARTA, INDONESIA, June 28, 2003: Indonesia’s parliament on June 11 passed a controversial education bill that requires schools with 10 or more students from any particular religion to provide those students “religious education in their own faith from a teacher of that faith.” That stipulation falls heavily on Christian schools. While Christians do not generally send their children to Islamic schools, many Muslims send their children to Christian schools, which have a reputation for superior educational standards. Under the new law, a private Christian school with 10 Muslim students would have to devote its own funds to building a mosque and hiring an Islamic teacher. (Muslim and Hindu schools will have to provide similar programs in their schools.) “That strikes at the heart of religious freedom,” says Ann Buwalda, USA director of the Jubilee Campaign, an international advocacy group for persecuted religious minorities. “If it were a public-school matter, I don’t think Christians would be concerned. It’s the first legislation on a nationwide basis to draw in religious distinctions.” The driving force behind the new bill is the second-largest Muslim movement in Indonesia, called Muhammadiyah. Though nonviolent, the group is committed to establishing Islamic foundations throughout society, and education is one of its main vehicles.