Government Regulation (PP) Number 57 of 2021 concerning National Education Standards which does not mention Pancasila and Bahasa Indonesia Education as compulsory subjects in the higher education curriculum becomes a polemic. Minister of Education and Culture, Nadiem Makarim has released an official statement and confirmed that he will propose a revision of the regulation regarding the substance of the compulsory curriculum.
Met by PRASETYA Online, Monday (19/04/2021), the Head of the Center for Personality Development Course Universitas Brawijaya (Pusat MPK-UB), Dr. Abdul Madjid, S.H., M.Hum said that he agreed with the steps taken by the Minister of Education and Culture.
“Indeed in the press release it has been clarified that the regulation on National Education Standards was drafted referring to Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System, but press releases alone are not sufficient, since the regulation also states that it refers to Law Number 12 of 2012 concerning Higher Education which clearly refers to it. Stated that the higher education curriculum must contain subjects on Religion, Pancasila, Citizenship, and Bahasa Indonesia, so it must be revised. Because the regulation is a translation of the implementation of the Law, “he explained.
According to Abdul Madjid, Pancasila and Bahasa Indonesia are national commitments, both as the ideology of the nation and as a language of unity. And it has a long history and cannot just be eliminated, since it can erase the history and character of the nation.
“This course used to be called as General Course, but now it is confirmed to be the Personality Development Course. The hope is that students will have a good national insight, which are understanding the ideology of the nation as a unitary state and the good qualities of Pancasila, understanding the language of unity, and having religious values. So, in addition to having high knowledge, students do not forget the roots of the values of their nation. For this reason, this regulation needs to be revised and include explicitly the substance of the compulsory curriculum, “concluded the lecturer at the Faculty of Law. [Irene/ Humas UB/ Trans. Iir]
