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ICIP Launches program on Open, Distance and e-Learning |
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On April 7-8, 2008, the program on Open, Distance and e-Learning for Islamic Transformation through Pesantren was officially launched by the International Center for Islam and Pluralism in cooperation with the Ford Foundation Jakarta. Those who took part in this launching included representatives from ICIP, the Ford Foundation, pesantren who are participating in the pilot project, foreign dignitaries, members of related NGOs and the press and featured keynote speeches by the Minister for Information and Communications Prof. Dr. Mohammad Nuh and the Minister for National Education Prof. Dr. Bambang Sudibyo.
Opening the program launch, Dr. M. Syafi’i Anwar explained the details of the ODeL program including making special note of the numbers of pesantren students who have begun using the internet facilities provided by ICIP and the Ford Foundation have already exceeded both ICIP and the Ford Foundations initial expectations.
Dr. Meiwita Budiharsana from the Ford Foundation Jakarta said that this program was not academic in nature but instead focused on providing real benefit for people at the grassroots level. She also said that she believed this program would be an important turning point towards making society more knowledgeable and creating space for open debate. She also expressed the hope that other parties would be interested enough in the program to support it further.
Following this Dr. Budiharsana officially launched the pesantrenglobal.org website, which will serve as an information and learning center for the program. A brief explanation of the websites features followed including the fact that each pesantren participating in the program has its own blog and it is hoped that they will be able to use this to keep the wider world informed on their progress and activities in their respective communities.
After a short break, the Minister for Information and Communications Prof. Dr. Mohammad Nuh delivered a keynote address, focusing on the theme of transformation. He argued that Indonesian society must transform itself from being a ‘ignorant society’ to being an ‘aware’ or even a ‘wise’ society. The main tool in attempting to bring about this transformation at the moment is technology and e-transformation. Pesantren too must also play a role in this transformation process, and as a result must no longer dismiss the internet and technology as ‘forbidden’ or haram. Instead they must treat it as being something suitable for the contemporary world, no different than eating a particular meal (for example breakfast) in accordance with its appropriate time (that is to say, breakfast time).
In the first seminar session on “The Issue of Equivalent Education through Information and Communications Technology in Indonesia: From Policy to Practice” Drs. Bahruddin from pesantren Qaryah Thayyibah spoke about his’ pesantren’s experience in placing an emphasis on developing life skills education for students. As part of this he showed several short documentary pieces on the pesantren and later showcased some of the works from students including a large number of books as well as several films.
Following this Prof. Dr. Komaruddin Hidayat discussed the state of education in Indonesia. He said that in the post-World War II era, countries have attempted to pass through certain phases in development. Indonesia is no exception in this regard, having passed through a period of political formation (the Soekarno period) and a market building period (the Soeharto period), however it now needs to move to the next stage: education building. He believed that pesantren will become the future of education in Indonesia, but to live up to this role pesantren leaders, kiai in particular, need to not only develop a culture of knowledge within pesantren, but also balance this by providing life skills rather than relying just on providing formal educational qualifications for students.
After the lunch break, the Minister for National Education Prof. Dr. Bambang Sudibyo provided the second keynote speech for the day. He began by admitting it seemed to be somewhat of an anomaly, having people from the pesantren community studying about and from the internet. However this ultimately relates to the obligation for all Muslims to study and learn in life, no matter what social or economic situation they face. In this regard he commended ICIP and the Ford Foundation’s efforts to bring ODeL education to pesantren and said that any initiatives taken by society to improve education would be strongly supported by the government.
In the following session on Pesantren as ODeL Practitioners, Undang Sumantri representing the Director of Pesantren and Diniyah education discussed pesantren reactions to ODeL programs and the challenges they face. He said that pesantren traditionally have had a central role in Indonesian society as besides being the oldest educational institutions in the archipelago they have also produced many national leaders and figures. Some pesantren are ready and willing to take on ODeL programs, seeing them as a window to the contemporary world which they need to be a part of, while other pesantren remain resistant to such media as they consider their current teaching methods sufficient or are otherwise concerned with the negative effects of internet usage. The differing conditions of pesantren throughout the archipelago have a great bearing on the success of each ODeL program.
Elih Sudiapermana, representing the Director of Equivalent and Non-Formal Education discussed the basics of the equivalent education programs offered by the Department of National Education. She said that one of the main advantages of the Equivalent Education packages offered by the government was that they can be applied anywhere, whether this is in public schools or alternative schools such as pesantren.
On the second day of the launching, a mini-workshop was held which in particular discussed the human rights and life skills elements of the ODeL program. Discussing human rights content in the ODeL curriculum, Yanti Mukhtar argued that universalistic themes must play a role if the still predominantly Muslim community is to truly achieve the transformation desired in this program. Similarly Moeslim Abdurrahman said that respect for pluralism must be at the forefront of the program as well as the development of a critical attitude to all aspects of life. The internet itself was just a facility, but the actual content itself is what will effect real transformation amongst Muslims.
On the topic of life skills in general and entrepreneurship in particular, KH Fuad Affandi discussed the experience of his pesantren, Al-Ittifaq, in Bandung which operates a agribusiness. His pesantren involves the students in agribusiness activities providing them with business and agricultural skills while also seeing that their work goes towards paying for their education. In addition Ahmad Juwaeni from Republika’s Dompet Duhafa discussed some of the necessary steps for establishing an entrepreneurial venture including proper selection of participants and facilitators, preparation of infrastructure and follow up activities.
In the concluding session representatives from the pesantren participating in this program took the time to report on how the program has been running in their respective areas as well as what they felt needed to be done in the future. The pesantren found that the program had been very enthusiastically received by their local communities, and that the program was well worth continuing into the future. However some also felt that further development needs to be made in infrastructure, and in terms of curriculum that each pesantren was different in what it and the local community surrounding it needs.
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