Governmental Reaction Towards Multiethnicity in Indonesia

by 

Virgiawan Adi & Widya Kusu

Multiethnic as one component of national identity is complex problem which remains unsolved. The complexity here means a result of number ethnic group and race amongst the nation. From Sabang to Merauke, we can see that Indonesia has around 700 ethnic groups (Tilaar, 2007, p.xvii) where each ethnic group has different social and cultural activity. Of course, the government sees this phenomenon as a trigger to disunity or tribalism in which the fanatics to their own ethnic may create prejudice (Tilaar, 2007, p.xxv) and conflict. As long as we concern, since its independence day around 67 years ago government has created many policies to carry this nation from that aforementioned issue. One big question is then raised up. How does the government react towards this multiethnic phenomenon from time to time? 

Indonesia Mengajar: A Program for Social Justice in Education

Social justice for the whole people of Indonesia. This is the fifth principle of our ideology, Pancasila. This principle is symbolized by the image of rice paddy and cotton which means that every single person shares the same happiness which emphasizes an egalitarian relationship for majority and minority groups. This idea was basically from our founding father, the first president – Soekarno. He encouraged Indonesian people to have equality in many aspects such as education. Since the very beginning of our nation’s independence, the principle of social justice in education was elaborated in the constitution, Undang-Undang Dasar (UUD) 1945. For example, UUD 1945 article 30 emphasizes a national education system in which “Each citizen has the right to an education”. Unfortunately, this principle remains distant, since the right to education is only for those who afford to buy it, while the others, who cannot afford it, can only peek in and see the class interactions from outside the windows, like the main character in the movie “Denias”. This is symbolic of many other Deniases in remote areas spreading from Sabang to Merauke who have a passion for studying and are intelligent but cannot afford these opportunities. Do they deserve an inferior education? Do only Javanese people merit a good education? No.

I Let my Orphanage Students to speak

Every kid needs to speak up and every teacher needs to listen. This idea is clearly the emphasis in Campano’s (2007) article “Honoring Student Stories”. This “kernel” of idea leads to a rapid popcorn explosion of questions. How do you get those kids to speak about their feelings? How do you invite them? How do you support them?