We visited 5 universities (2 Christian based, 1 Muslim based, and 2 Secular-National based) and 2 high schools (Christian and government sponsored) in Makasar during our Discovery Trip in 2007. Our objectives were to see the penetration of Shariah Islam into education system and to understand the condition of education system outside Java.
We found that small minorities of students and faculties wanted to implement Shariah. Majority of the students and staffs were either strongly against or mildly opposed Shariah. The Christian educators and students did not feel threaten at all for 3 major reasons. One, majority of Muslims in Indonesia was essentially afraid of the law. They could not imagine seeing a lot of people without hands or being stoned. Second, a lot of Muslim educators were returning back after continuing their education in Western universities. Although they became more religious, they were more focus on lifting the university and the nation to compete in international level. Third, the salary and scholarship funding were very minimal. The educators had to teach in more than one school; while the students had to do extra work. They did not have enough bandwidth to promote Shariah.
Our Visit to STT Intim
The education system looked good from the outside but rotten in the inside (Maju tapi Keropos). We could see new computer lab, technical lab, buildings being built. However, no money was allocated for research, while funding was very low for salary and scholarships. The salary of Western educated PhD educators was less than $500/month. The average scholarship was $10/month. The quality of education was expected poor. Consequently, these students had very limited skills and knowledge let alone wisdom (gain from research and interaction with the educators) and therefore made little impact in their native villages after graduation.
All educators we interviewed mentioned that one of the biggest issues was the deplorable moral conditions of the students. One educator looked very distraught during his sharing. He said many of the parents had to sell their land and businesses to send their kids to university. Many of the parents were disappointed that their money was used to buy drugs or to pay for other immoral acts. He shared that one mom had stroke when she learnt that her son bought drug and about to be kicked out from school.
We learnt that these universities had realized that they needed to partner with churches or mosques. They had neither resources nor spiritual mandates to tackle the moral issues. Unfortunately, the relationship between the churches and the universities had not been good. The universities felt that the churches were too focus on evangelism, thus did not put resources on discipleship.
Some university officials from Christian based university and some students in government school took the matters into their own hands. The Christian university altered the curriculum to address the spiritual challenge and one even go to the extreme to redesign the campus environment to minimize the opportunities for the students to do drugs. One theology schools had reached out to surrounding churches to communicate that their contextual theology was not a liberalization of the Christian doctrine. They still believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is the one and the only way to be saved and go to heaven.
We learned that universities were not only a place for learning but also a place for empowering the next generation of our nation. In this context, universities had to be concerned beyond the knowledge. It had to impart knowledge and wisdom. Proverbs 24:3-4 said, “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches”. It requires wisdom to build a strong nation, culture, and civilization. It needs knowledge to set up the roads, power plan, water treatment, chemical plants, and mines. Understanding is needed to comprehend the gap and prioritize the needs. Universities are set up to develop skills; while family, church, and government are set to develop understanding. The universities had to work together with parents, churches, and government for a single objective, that is to gain wisdom for the students, our next generation leaders.