SP/Fuska Sani Evani, Yogyakarta – Education authorities in Yogyakarta have rejected the Education Ministry's new elementary school curriculum for 2013, saying that it violates prevailing laws and is of questionable quality.

Wuryadi, head of the local education office, criticized the plan to drop science and social studies from the curriculum, saying on Monday that the move would be legally flawed because both subjects were mandatory under the 2003 National Education System Law.

He also said the ministry's proposal to integrate the two subjects into Indonesian language classes made no sense, arguing that they should have been merged with similar subjects. He said that science could easily be integrated with math, while social studies would be more suitably integrated with civics classes.

Wuryadi also found issue with how the proposed new curriculum was drawn up, saying it was not based on evaluation of the 2006 curriculum and therefore would confuse teachers trying to implementing it. The new curriculum assumes all teachers have the same teaching capacity.

"All this time, no new curriculum has ever been made based on the evaluation of a previous curriculum," he said. "There should have been an evaluation to identify the good and bad points of the previous curriculum. Steps like that have never been taken."

Given these weaknesses, he went on, the Yogyakarta Education Office was calling on the government to redesign the curriculum for next year.

Hary Dandy, the office's deputy chief, criticized the government's plan to increase the hours that the students would have to spend in class, saying that it would not be effective. He suggested that it might be better to reduce the number of subjects taught instead of reducing or increasing overall school hours.

The government has said it want to increase the amount of time spent on "character-building" subjects such as Islamic studies and local culture. Character and cultural development among students can be materialized through the integration and interconnection of subjects that emphasize faith and morality, the implementation of religious values, the implementation of the state ideology, the understanding of the concept of nationhood, the spirit of patriotism and Indonesian cultural wisdom," Handy said.

The education office will send its analysis of the curriculum to the Education Ministry, the House of Representatives and the president, he added.

Educators and experts have expressed criticism over the new school curriculum, which is set to be implemented in July next year, saying that the plan would only cause problems for teachers and students. The Education Ministry has argued that the current curriculum is putting too much strain on students, and that it is looking to limit subjects taught in elementary schools to just six, eliminating science, social studies and English.

The new curriculum would contain religion, nationalism, Indonesian language, math, arts and sports.

The Indonesian Teachers Union Federation (FSGI) criticized the elimination of information technology and communications (TIK), a subject that was recently created by the government.

"There are a lot of candidate teachers for the TIK undergoing training. What will happen to them now? Has the government thought [the new curriculum] through?" said Retno Listyarti from the FSGI. She added that the new curriculum did not take into account the fate of science, social studies and English teachers.

Although she acknowledged that young students should not be forced to spread their attention over an expansive range of subjects, Retno said science and social studies should be taught from the fourth grade.

The ministry says elementary school students will still be able to study basic science and social studies through the Indonesian language classes.

Education Minister Mohammad Nuh said the sciences would no longer be subjects of their own. "The subjects will be integrated, not eliminated. Therefore, science and social science will always be included," he said.

However, experts have cast doubt on the logic behind the plan. "How are [teachers] supposed to integrate science into Indonesian language lessons?" Retno said. "It seems like the government hasn't thought this through."

The ministry has also proposed a credit system for senior high schools, which Retno warned would make certain subjects more popular than others. If the credit system is enforced, "then what about the national exams? How do you determine which subjects to test the students on?" she said.

Despite claiming that the new curriculum would mean less of a burden, the ministry has also decided to increase school hours to 38 per week from 32.

The new curriculum sparked controversy and polarized the nation, with proponents of the plan arguing that children had long felt overburdened by the curriculum.