Bengkulu – Bengkulu province's education office is planning to include Koranic reading as part of its elementary school curriculum.

"We will teach Koran reading using the 'Iqra' method starting in the 2012-2013 school year so that students can read the Koran at an early age," the office's head, Yasarlin, said on Saturday.

The decision came about due to a proposal from acting Governor Junaidi Hamsyah, Yasarlin said. "It is made based upon concern that a lot of school-age children and even university students still cannot read the Koran fluently, while it is a must for Muslims," he said.

He estimated that 70 top 80 percent of elementary, junior and senior high school students were unable to read the Koran. There are currently 255,240 elementary school students in Bengkulu province.

Yasarlin said the program was being formulated by the education office in conjunction with the local religious affairs ministry He said the program was currently still being formulated by the province's education office in cooperation with the local Religious Affairs Ministry office.

Under the plan, the subject would appear on students' report cards as part of the requirement to advance to higher grades.

In 2010, The administration of Bangka Island off the coast of Sumatra adopted similar requirements that Muslim elementary students be able to read Islam's holy book to graduate.

In the years following the 1999 regional autonomy law, dozens of bylaws and regulations inspired by Shariah law have been passed by local governments, raising concerns among some groups about back-door attempts to turn secular Indonesia into an Islamic state.