Jakarta – More groups in the archipelago joined North Sulawesi's move on Friday to reject the newly endorsed education bill by filing a petition for a judicial review with the Supreme Court.

The East Java-based Indonesian Education Watch (IEW) has planned to also file a petition for a judicial review against the bill. "Our colleagues from North Sulawesi have initiated the judicial review against the bill, and we will follow them on it," IEW chairwoman Anita Lie told Antara.

Anita said although the bill had been changed several times, the revisions were not substantial. Moreover, the bill, bearing the spirit of centralization, was a contradiction to the Regional Autonomy Law and the concept of school-based education, which reflects decentralization, she said.

Religious leaders and principals of private schools from Papua met Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday to voice their objections to the controversial bill.

The Papuan delegation comprises religious leaders and school principals of the Protestant, Catholic, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist faiths. "They raised questions on a number of articles which were rejected because they could inflict losses to the people of the nation," noted priest Herman Awom said.

Christian leaders from Papua, North Sulawesi, Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara also agreed to voice their demands to separate from Indonesia if the bill disrupted the Christian education system. Earlier, the North Sulawesi administration said that it would file a petition for a judicial review with the Supreme Court as part of its campaign against the bill.

The move has gained support from the North Sumatra provincial legislature, some municipalities and a group of concerned citizens.

Another group whose members come from various Christian-majority provinces in the country has also rejected the bill.

The bill was endorsed in the absence of the largest faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), on Wednesday evening. President Megawati Soekarnoputri has 30 days in which to sign the bill, but even if she fails to sign it within that period, it will automatically go into effect.

In theory, Megawati, the chairwoman of PDI Perjuangan, can block the bill by refusing to sign the necessary government regulations to implement it.

Anita went on to say that in addition to rejecting the bill, the IEW would also monitor the drafting of the government regulations for implementing the bill.

The bill requires 10 government regulations. "Either the bill or the government regulations will just add to the problems because our aspirations have not been accommodated," she said.

Arguments for and against the bill center on the government's intervention in education and the requirement for schools to provide religious instruction for students according to their respective faiths.

Many private Christian schools have large numbers of Muslim students and there is apparently fear among Muslims that those students may be converted away from Islam. However, the Christian groups see the stipulation as a state intervention into private education institutions.