Rembang parliament rejects Five Day School policy

Rembang, NU Online
The speaker of the Rembang Regional Parliament (DPRD) Central Java, KH Majid Kamil Maimoen participated in a peaceful rally to protest  the Five Day School (FDS) policy held in the Rembang square on Wednesday (30/8).

The son of Al-Anwar Islamic boarding school (pesantren) Sarang Rembang KH Maimoen Zubair expressed his disagreement related to FDS policy in Indonesia.

According to him, this policy could disturb children, especially in fulfilling their right to study religious subject matters in the afternoon at the so-called madrasah diniyah and Quranic education centers (TPQ).

"We will lose five days if the government keep continuing this (FDS) policy,"he said.

In terms of some high schools and vocational schools in Kabupaten Rembang having implemented the FDS program, he explained that all policies related to senior high school level would be determined by the provincial government. While the junior high school level would be determined by the district / local government.

"So if there are still high schools or vocational schools in Rembang district that are still implementing FDS program, it is simply not the fault of the district government. DPRD Rembang along with Mr. Hafidz refused this policy," he explained in front of thousands of participants.

He added that students participating in the five-day school progarm also disagreed. "They are not robots."

He said that the policy must be reevaluated following protests against a longer school day for being capable of "killing" madrassa diniyyaa (after-school courses) for teenaged Muslims to learn about moderate Islamic knowledge, history and practices. With a five-day school week, they pointed out, students would have to spend more hours every day in class and would have no time to attend the madrassa diniyyaa. (Aan Ainun Najib/Masdar)