Ambon, <strong><em>NU Online</em></strong><br />
Non-formal education has proven crucial in getting children in Ambon, Maluku, to resume their studies following years of sectarian violence that left more than 9,000 people dead and forced many students to drop out of school.<br />
<br />
Salim Kairoty, head of the Maluku Education Agency, says that during the clashes from 1999 to 2002, many schools were burned down or vandalized, while attendance rates at primary schools dropped from 96 percent to less than 80 percent.<br<> />
<br />
Even though the schools have since been rebuilt and the tensions largely quelled, many students refuse to return to classes because of fears of a resurgence in violence.<br />
<br />
“They’re afraid of returning to school,” Salim says.<br />
<br />
“So non-formal education and life skills have been very helpful for the children to ensure they continue their education.”<br />
<br />
This non-formal education is provided by community learning centers, known as PKBM, and non-formal learning centers, or LPK, which also offer the high school equivalency test for those reluctant to return to school.<br />
<br />
Ria, a tutor at PKBM Makmur Jaya in Nusaniwe subdistrict, says it is still hard to teach the students years after the violence.<br />
<br />
“We can’t force them to study or be too hard on them because they’re very sensitive,” she says.<br />
<br />
“They tend to just flee from the classroom because of all the trauma from that time.”<br />
<br />
She says the most difficult thing to overcome is that the students include Muslims and Christians, many of whom continue to view each other with hostility.<br />
<br />
“The tensions between those studying for the junior and senior high school equivalency tests is pretty obvious,” Ria says. “They don’t talk to one another.”<br />
<br />
She adds that this tension doesn’t exist among students studying for the primary school equivalency test, most of whom are too young to remember the sectarian strife.<br />
<br />
Ria says the PKBM is trying to end the hostility by slipping lessons on tolerance into some of its courses. “We try to make them understand that the violence wasn’t about religion, that it was fueled completely by politics.”<br />
<br />
She adds that the tutors sometimes hold lessons outdoors to put the students more at ease.<br />
<br />
“We hold classes near their parents’ workplace, or some place the students choose,” she says.<br />
<br />
Jati, head of PKBM Makmur Jaya, says getting the students to take part in outdoor activities is a great way to get them to drop their guard.<br />
<br />
“Take them out and introduce them to nature, to the plants, and they’re happy,” she says.<br />
<br />
The students, she adds, are also encouraged to read books together in a nearby communal reading area.<br />
<br />
“When they study together and work together, they realize that Muslims and Christians are the same, and the bottom line is they’re all Ambonese,” Jati says.<br />
<br />
Abadi, who is studying for the high school equivalency exam, says he used to be traumatized by the violence.<br />
<br />
“But now I realize that we’re all one here, that my friends aren’t my enemies,” he says.<br />
<br />
Nur Ija Imran, head of LPK Jayanegara, says students need to absorb the lesson that they should work as one.<br />
<br />
“I keep telling my students that we’re here to learn to become a better generation,” she says.<br />
<br />
“There’s no room for religious intolerance here.”<br />
<br />
LPK Jayanegara is located between the Muslim village of Batu Merah and the Christian one of Mardika. The school building itself was used by snipers targeting Muslim villagers during the conflict.<br />
<br />
Abdullah, 17, a student there, says all those studying at LPK Jayanegara get along well. “There’s no tension between us,” he says. “We understand that the perpetrators only wanted to divide us.”<br />
<br />
In PKBM Makmur Jaya, the electronics class has been given a grant of Rp 32.5 million ($3,600) by the government so students can build their own electronic devices.<br />
<br />
Gusti, one of the 26 students in the class, says he plans to make power amplifiers “because they’re very popular here.”<br />
<br />
Waode Muna, from the Ambon Education Office, says they will continue to closely monitor the students’ progress.<br />
<br />
“We want them to use the money wisely and we want them to create something that will ben efit them and other people,” he says. (dar)
Nasional LAINNYA
