/ 27 February 2006

Tackling terror with education

Six teenage rugby players rush forward to protect their teammate, who is charging into the opposition with the ball tucked under his right arm. Within seconds, they are all on the sodden ground, laughing.

‘No, no no,” hollers their coach in a northern-English accent. ‘You’ve got to stay on your feet.”

This training session is not at one of Jakarta’s swanky international schools, and the players are not the spoilt sons of expatriates. The 50 or so boys are all Indonesians, mostly from the Asshiddiquiyah Islamic boarding school on the outskirts of Indonesia’s sprawling capital.

The aim of the organiser, Indonesian Rugby Development, is primarily to spread rugby across the archipelago, but also to give boys in Islamic schools a chance to get some form of physical exercise. For, like the vast majority of Indonesia’s 10 000-plus Islamic boarding schools, known as pesantren, sports facilities at Asshiddiquiyah are virtually non-existent.

‘[An American educator] and I were talking about pesantren not really having any sports,” explains Muhammed Syahadat, the teacher who accompanies the boys. ‘It’s really a shame because if you don’t have something to do, then …”

He has no need to finish his sentence because we are speaking just days after the government released a video featuring the young men who detonated suicide bombs in Bali restaurants last year, killing 22 people. All three of the suicide bombers had been educated at pesantren.

After the 9/11 attacks on the United States and a spate of other terrorist strikes around the globe, the world, it appears, has come to the same conclusion.

If radicalism is going to be defeated, and mutual understanding bolstered, huge investment is needed in developing nations’ education.

‘Since 9/11, [radical Islam] has been a source of instability in the world, and we should bring to bear what we can to make a difference,” says Mike Hardy, the head of the British Council in Indonesia.

Other donor countries have similar views. Bruce Davis, director general of Australian government aid agency AusAid, made no secret in a recent speech of his country’s motivation in massively expanding its aid programmes, including education.

‘The Australian government [now has] a greater openness to more sophisticated definitions of security, definitions that range beyond physical security to include concepts such as food security, livelihood security and security of access to resources such as water,” said Davis. ‘A lot of the ways you’re going to make a difference on governance issues is to think long-term and expose future generations to different ways of learning and different opportunities.”

Indonesia has attracted particular attention. It is the world’s most populous Muslim nation and is predominantly moderate. It has suffered a major bombing every year since 1992, and bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami.

‘It’s not just a reaction to perceived Islamic threats,” said William Ryan, an American working closely with many pesantren. ‘I think people in the development world are smartening up and realising that if there’s crap education, nothing is going to change.”

Senior Islamic educators, however, believe it is no coincidence that the level of foreign assistance has intensified significantly since 9/11.

‘Virtually every big donor is now active in the education sector here,” says Dr Azumardi Azra, the head of Jakarta’s State Islamic University and one of the country’s leading moderate Islamic educators.

‘These programmes are important to strengthen and empower moderate and mainstream Muslim institutions. But they are also addressing the deeper weaknesses of the education system.”

A spokesperson for the United Nations’ children’s organisation, Unicef, said his organisation’s programme is reaching 275 078 children in 1 419 schools in 42 districts, while another 323 000 pupils are benefiting from private-sector support.

There are plenty of weaknesses to address. About 55% of the adult population has only a primary school education; millions of pupils are dropping out every year; and, in a recent spot check by the World Bank, about 20% of teachers were absent.

‘Kids are still learning by rote, but they need to be learning by doing,” says Rozi Munir, senior member of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a Muslim social organisation of 40million members. ‘Children’s creativity needs to be bolstered.”

Average standards in pesantren and other Islamic schools are even lower than in the state sector, according to Azra. ‘Pesantren usually don’t have the financing and take anyone as teachers,” he said.

Hardy believes that accelerating globalisation is also driving the agenda.

‘Never before has our world been such a small place — a world where what we do affects others and what others do affects us,” he said. ‘Only when our education systems, the schools, teachers and the curricula become more outward-looking and confident in embracing the challenges in a diverse world, do we begin to equip our young people and adults for life in a global society and work in a global economy.”

Different donors take different approaches. Some strengthen school administration, others address poor teacher training. Some place teachers in schools and some focus on exchange programmes to address mutual misunderstandings.

Yet all insist they are not trying to impose anything, especially not Western liberalism.

‘It’s all about how Indonesians can be better prepared for their futures, their participation in democratic activities and being able to compete better in the wider world,” says an American official.

‘We’re not bringing answers, we’re bringing a toolkit,” says Hardy. ‘We’re getting alongside the debate and helping Indonesians to find solutions. It would be a waste of everyone’s time if we dictated to them.”

British initiatives include programmes with NU and Indonesia’s other major moderate social Islamic organisation, Muhammadiyah. More than 50 deputy heads of NU-affiliated pesantren attend month-long courses on school management at a British university and, on their return, have to disseminate what they’ve learned to deputy heads of 10 other schools.

A British diplomat said that the Indonesians also do subliminal educating while in Britain.

‘This is not a one-way street. We expect them to educate as much as being educated,” the diplomat said. ‘It’s a programme that aims to avoid the misunderstandings that have occurred between Western culture and Islamic communities. People [in Indonesia] don’t understand that the United Kingdom is a multicultural society.”

Azra is not at all surprised Britain is pursuing such a policy. ‘There’s a growing resentment towards Britain [for being] an ally of America,” he said. ‘The British government realises it needs people to understand about ‘real life’ in Britain.”

Programmes placing foreign teachers in Indonesian schools generate particularly large benefits, says Ryan. ‘Many of these people have never met an American. If they have a professor living in their community who is a good guy, then it makes a big difference.”

Syahadat doesn’t mind what the donor nations’ motivation is. ‘There’s always an underlying motive, but since we want to be closer to the West and improve mutual understanding, we’re happy to engage.”

The rugby players say just engaging with Westerners on the rugby pitch is broadening their horizons. ‘Before I played rugby, I had no interaction with Westerners,” said Dondy Ziksy (17).

Indonesia’s education minister, Bambang Sudibyo, declined to be interviewed.

‘There have been no major initiatives from the government,” says Azra. ‘[The minister] has never invited university rectors for a brainstorming session on how to improve education in Indonesia or sought input from the public.”

Despite this, and because of the huge influx of foreign aid, the education system is starting to improve, albeit slowly, Munir believes. ‘Children are now being taught how to discuss and debate,” he says. ‘But we’ve got to wait several more years to see the true impact.” —