The sufficient budget for education in Jakarta Capital City has positive effects to improve the quality of education in the city. The condition is not only useful for the people; it gets appreciation from the City Council (DPRD) who has stated that the education programs run by the city are getting better.
“But I hoped, the education in religion should be added because the content of moral education and cultural wisdom is still low. Children need a defense in facing problems,” said Wasito Al Wasith, a member of commission E, in the interactive dialogue “The Improvement of Education Quality in Jakarta Capital City” held by City Dept. of Communication Information and Public Relations on Ar-Rohmah Mosque, Jl Kampung Duri, RT 05/01 Semanan Urban Village, Kalideres Sub-district, West Jakarta, Thursday (6/24).
Commission E asked the City executives to work together in realizing the special bylaw in education. He was sure that the bylaw could accommodate some policies related to education in this autonomous region. He mentioned the examples such as free education, status increase of around 6 thousand freelance teachers in Jakarta, and additional moral education in schools.
“Out of the total 37 hours of learning per week, the moral education is only two hours. I think it is not enough. Why don’t four or six hours?” he stated.
The same thing was also stated by an education observer Haris Sambas. According to Sambas, there should be equality in general education, demeanor education and personality. Personality building could be achieved from some references like religion education, nature or environment, and also from traditional cultural beliefs. “Personality building could refer not only to religion but also to multicultural education,” he explained.
Ida Farida, one of the residents and also education activist, said that the imbalanced teaching between general education and religious one has affected the quality of personality and behavior of the children. He hoped the bylaw which would cover the additional hours of religious education in general school could be realized.
“I think it is important. The students should be accustomed to have good morality to prevent negative effects from their environment,” she said.