Jakarta – Representatives of the Indonesian Teachers Union Federation (FSGI) delivered a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Palace on Friday, urging him to order the Education and Culture Ministry to cancel the implementation of the new curriculum.

Retno Listyarti, the general-secretary of FSGI, said enhancing the capacity of teachers to teach was more important than changing the curriculum. She also said there were many incorrect approaches in the new curriculum, such as mixing the subjects of science and religion.

"How could teachers teach the Earth's history by using holy verses from five different religions? If they teach that material in elementary school, it will confuse the students," she said.

Teachers also believe there might be political reasons behind the budget increase for the new curriculum, from Rp 684 billion (US$48.1 million) to Rp 2.49 trillion. "That's the most money ever budgeted for education in Indonesian history, and it is solely for creating the new curriculum," she said.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) accompanied and supported the teachers in their demands, as the group saw the potential for corruption with such a large budget. ICW public service monitoring division head Febri Hendri said that ICW did not want another Hambalang scandal.

"I'm afraid that the money for the new curriculum will be embezzled by the people handling the curriculum to fund campaigns for next year's election," he said.

On March 21, ICW asked the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the Education and Culture Ministry in connection with the budget increase.

ICW has joined with FSGI, Sekolah Tanpa Batas (Schools Without Borders), and the Alliance of Parents Concerned with Indonesian Education (APPI) to create a coalition to reject the new curriculum and monitor the budget.

"We have sources at the Education and Culture Ministry that support our suspicions and we hope the KPK will reveal the truth," Febri said. "ICW and the KPK will monitor the use of the funds with special attention to the allocation of Rp 1.09 billion for teacher training and Rp 1.2 billion for book procurement."

Retno said the teacher training and book procurement funds would be the most vulnerable to embezzlement.

"They'll only have one month to order the printing of the books before they have to be distributed to the teachers, so the quality is bound to be poor. We demand that the President cancel the new curriculum because we have read the new curriculum's documents and it is not viable. I believe the President will be embarrassed if the government implements the new curriculum, because it is such a bad curriculum and too costly," she said.

Retno said their letter was their last formal action after visiting the House of Representatives, the Education and Culture Ministry and the Finance Ministry to check the budget.

"If the Education and Culture Ministry insists on implementing the curriculum in June, we suggest that it starts with a pilot program to determine feasibility before full implementation," she said.

The letter was accepted by the Presidential Palace staff, who said they would pass it on to the President.

The police officer handling security at the palace, AKP Kasmono, said: "We only do what people request, so we asked the palace staff to accept their letter. I hope the President will read it. My wife is a teacher too, so I know that there are suspicions that the curriculum budget will be misused. That's why they have reported it to the KPK." he said. (ian)