REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin hoped that the full-day school policy, with five days a week, must ensure the strengthening of informal schools such as 'madrasah diniyah' (Primary Islamic schools).
"There must be assurance that the implementation of the policy provides recognition and strengthens the existence of madrasah diniyah, 'pesantren' (Islamic boarding schools), and other informal religious institutions," Lukman told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He said that teachers in informal education institutions should also be guaranteed recognition and empowerment.
According to the minster, assurance on strengthening the existence of madrasah diniyah and boarding schools should also be contained in regulations.
If there is no such guarantee, the minister is of the view that the plan to implement the full-day school policy should be better reviewed.
"If there is no guarantee, it should be examined more deeply to see its negative impact because it causes anxiety in the community," he said.
Previously, the Ministry of Education and Culture issued a Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 23 of 2017 on School Day.
Article 2 of the minister's regulation stipulates that schooling should be held eight hours a day or 40 hours for five days a week.
The concept, which was first launched last year by Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy, had triggered controversies.
The concept of full-day school is inapplicable and unpopular in the district of Lebak, Banten, a member of the district legislative assembly Muhammad Husen noted.
"If the concept of 8 hours at school for five day a week is to be applied in the 2017/2018 academic year, the impact on Islamic religious education would be negative," the politician of the Nation Awakening Party (PKB) remarked on Tuesday.
The people of Lebak are religious, and the application of full-day school concept may lead to the non-formal Islamic education being defunct, Husen revealed.
"Non-formal religious education after school time is necessary for moral and character development," he explained.
He stated that the full-day school concept is merely an application of imitative behavior and not based on thorough studies, adding that hence the application of the concept was rejected."
"The minister focused on improving the school facilities. Many schools in the regions, including in Lebak, have no good sanitation, he pointed out.
In Palangkaraya, the provincial city of Central Kalimantan, a regional legislator said that the province could not fully implement the policy.
Only a small number of schools with adequate facilities and infrastructure could apply the concept, Asdi Narang, of the Commission X of the regional legislative assembly, said in Palangka Raya on Tuesday.
"Schools in Central Kalimantan are not the same in facility and infrastructure as in Java," Asdi said.
He added that his faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), though calling for a review, supports the program as it would prevent parents from worrying about the whereabouts of their children after school hours every day.
Under the present system, children have too much time after school hours.
He said that implementation of the program will need the support of adequate facilities and infrastructure in addition to teaching staff.
"If the concept has to be implemented on July 1, 2017, we will see what would happen and the inputs from parents. This will help us, in Commission X, to evaluate the full-day school concept," he remarked.
Sinta Tri Setiani, an elementary school teacher in Kampung Bali, Central Jakarta, noted that it would be hard to implement the full-day school concept at public schools because of inadequate human resources and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, around 10 thousand public and private schools this year have agreed to apply the Full-Day School concept, a special staff of the minister for public communications Nasrullah has said.
He stated that as a consequence, the application of the concept will need fund for additional facilities. In the beginning last year, 540 model schools received grant for the additional facilities.
"The target is that in 2019, all public and private schools will apply the concept," he asserted.
Under the program, school days would be five days a week with Saturday as a holiday.
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