Santri Waria Ketakutan setelah Pesantrennya Ditutup

The Jakarta Post, halaman 2

Para santri Pesantren Waria Al Fatah, sebuah pesantren yang ditujukan bagi siswa waria di Yogyakarta, merasa ketakutan setelah penutupan paksa pesantren mereka setelah adanya tekanan dari sebuah kelompok garis keras.

Para santri tersebut tutup mulut ketika wartawan meminta komentarnya terhadap situasi tersebut dan langsung masuk ke kamar mereka masing-masing di sebuah bangunan tua bergaya Jawa di Kelurahan Jagalan, Kecamatan Banguntapan, di mana mereka tinggal dan belajar tentang Al-Quran dan Islam. Pimpinan pesantren, Shinta Ratri, juga menolak untuk berbicara dengan wartawan. Ia mengatakan bahwa dalam waktu dekat ini dia tidak punya rencana apa pun terkait pesantren.

Rabu lalu, sebuah pertemuan yang melibatkan para pejabat pemerintah setempat, warga sekitar, Shinta, dan perwakilan organisasi Islam, Front Jihad Islam resepsionis (FJI) Yogyakarta, membawa pada sebuah keputusan, yakni menutup pesantren itu. Pertemuan yang digelar di aula Kecamatan Jagalan, juga menyepakati untuk melarang setiap kegiatan keagamaan di pesantren tersebut.

Camat Banguntapan Jati Bayu Broto, yang juga moderator pertemuan itu mengatakan, keputusan itu dibuat karena pesantren tersebut tidak memiliki izin operasi dan adanya keluhan warga setempat terkait permasalahan parkir dan karaoke hingga larut malam. Selain itu, juga ditemukan adanya minuman keras di pesantren tersebut.

Pertemuan hari Rabu itu merupakan tindak lanjut kunjungan FJI ke pesantren waria Al Fatah pada 19 Februari. FJI mengunjungi pesantren itu untuk mempelajari kegiatan-kegiatan di pesantren tersebut. Namun, ketika FJI tiba di pesantren Al Fatah, pihak pengelola pesantren pergi ke kantor polisi untuk melaporkan sebuah pesan diduga dikirim oleh FJI yang menyatakan bahwa kelompok itu ingin menutup pesantren tersebut.

Aditya Arief Hermanto dari Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Yogyakarta, mengatakan, keputusan untuk menutup sekolah merupakan pelanggaran hak asasi manusia. Hak untuk mendapat pendidikan bagi para siswa waria tersebut telah dilanggar.

Aditya menyesalkan pihak Kepolisian Banguntapan yang mengabaikan laporan pesantren adanya intimidasi oleh kelompok FJI yang menyebarkan pesan di media sosial yang menyatakan bahwa FJI bermaksud untuk menutup pesantren itu secara paksa. Polisi menolak laporan tersebut, dengan alasan bahwa mereka tidak memiliki satuan unit cyber. Jika alasannya seperti itu, seharusnya mereka menggunakan KUHP sebagai dasar hukum untuk menyelidiki tersangka.

Pesantren waria Al Fatah Yogyakarta awalnya terletak di daerah Notoyudan sebelum dipindahkan ke Jagalan setelah kematian Maryani, pendiri pesantren itu pada tahun 2014. Maryani sendiri mendapat perhatian media lokal dan internasional pada tahun 2008 ketika ia merubah rumahnya menjadi tempat belajar Islam bagi para waria.

Setelah kematian Maryani, pesantren tersebut kemudian pindah ke sebuah rumah milik Shinta Ratri, seorang aktivis lesbian, gay, biseksual, transgender (LGBT). Puluhan santri belajar bersama di pesantren itu dan beberapa dari mereka juga ada yang tinggal di sana.

Sementara itu, pembina pesantren tersebut, Abdul Muhaimin, mengatakan ia akan mencoba untuk membangun kembali pesantren itu. Muhaimin menolak argumen bahwa pesantren itu tak berizin dan meresahkan warga setempat. Ia mengatakan, belajar Islam tidak perlu memakai izin. Jika permasalahannya mengenai tempat parkir, katanya, mereka bisa mengelolanya. Masalah parkir, tambahnya, seharusnya tidak mengganggu hak-hak mereka untuk mendapatkan pendidikan.

Transgender Muslims in Fear after School Shutdown

The Jakarta Post, page 2

Students at Al Fatah Pesantren Waria, an Islamic boarding school for transgender students, in Yogyakarta are living in fear after the forced closure of their religious education facility following pressure from a hardline group.

The students were tight-lipped when asked by journalists to comment on the situation and went straight to their rooms at an old Javanese house in Jagalan subdistrict, Banguntapan district, where they live and learn about the Koran and Islam. The school’s director, Shinta Ratri, also refused to talk to journalists, saying that she had no plans for the school in the near future.

Last Wednesday, a meeting involving local administration officials, residents, Shinta and members of the hardline Islamist group Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) Yogyakarta decided to shut down the school. The meeting, which was held at the Jagalan subdistrict hall, also agreed to forbid any religious activities at the school.

Banguntapan district head Jati Bayu Broto, who was also the moderator of the meeting, said the decision had been made because the school did not have a license to operate and locals had complained about late-night karaoke and parking problems. It was also claimed that alcoholic drinks had been found at the school.

Wednesday’s meeting was a follow-up to FJI’s visit to Al Fatah on Feb. 19. FJI reportedly visited the school to learn about the school’s activities. However, when the FJI arrived at Al Fatah, the school’s management had gone to a police station to report a message allegedly sent by the FJI stating that the group wanted to seal the school.

Aditya Arief Hermanto of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) said the decision to close down the school was a human rights violation.
The right [of transgender students] to get an education had been denied.

Aditya deplored the Banguntapan Police for ignoring the school’s report of intimidation by the hardline Islamic group. The FJI circulated on social media a message stating that the group intended to forcibly seal the school. The police rejected the report, arguing that they had no cyber unit. For that reason, they should’ve used the Criminal Code as a legal basis to investigate the suspected perpetrators.

Yogyakarta’s Al Fatah was originally located in the Notoyudan area before it was moved to Jagalan after the death of Maryani, the school’s founder, in 2014.

Maryani received local and international media attention in 2008 when she transformed her home into a place for transgender people to study Islam. After Maryani’s death, the school moved to a house belonging to Shinta Ratri, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) activist. Dozens of students study together under the same roof and some of them also live there.

Meanwhile, the school’s supervisor, Abdul Muhaimin, said he would try to re-establish the school. Muhaimin rejected the argument that the school was unlicensed and disturbed neighboring residents. He said, why did learning Islam need a permit? If it was about the parking, he said, they could manage it. A parking issue he added, should not disturb their rights to get an education.

Bela Negara Tak Perlu Masuk Kurikulum

Koran Sindo, halaman 2

Menteri Pertahanan (Menhan) Ryamizard Ryacudu mengatakan, di tengah ancaman krisis terorisme, radikalisme, dan pasar bebas, bela negara kini mendapat dukungan kuat untuk ditanamkan semenjak dini.

Ryamizard mengungkapkan, meski Indonesia belum terancam dengan negara-negara tetangga di ASEN, terlebih kawasan tersebut menyepakati hidup damai. Namun, ancacaman seperti ideologi, radikalisme, terorisme, perang siber, narkoba hingga pengendalian virus zika bisa diatasi dengan pendidikan bela negara.

Karena, lanjut Ryamizard, dalam pendidikan bela negara akan diajarkan wawasan kebangsaan hingga pendidikan tanggap bencana. Terlebih, sejak masa reformasi bergulir, nilai-nilai Pancasila sudah mulai luntur. Sehingga, jati diri bangsa pun mulai luntur dan mudah disusupi ideologi asing.

Sementara itu, Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (Mendikbud) Anies Baswedan mengatakan, pendidikan bela negara tidak perlu masuk dalam kurikulum baru. Namun, nilai-nilai bela negara itu dimuat dalam mata pelajaran. Ia pun setuju bila bela negara diajarkan sejak dini dengan mengenalkan mereka dengan bendera dan simbol negara.

Inclusion of State Defense Into Curriculum not Necessary

Koran Sindo, page 3

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said in the midst of crisis threats from terrorism, radicalism and free market, supports to embed state defense from the early phase were getting stronger.

Ryamizard asserted Indonesia was not threatened yet by its neighboring countries in ASEAN since countries in this region already agreed to have a peaceful life. However, threats from ideology, radicalism, terrorism, cyber war, drugs and zika virus could be conquered by state defense education.

Therefore, Ryamizard continued in the state defense education program, national awareness and disaster response education would be conveyed. Furthermore, in the current reform era, the national ideology Pancasila spirits and values began to fade. As a result, national identity had also been weakened and easily infiltrated by foreign ideologies.

Meanwhile Education and Culture Anies Baswedan said it was not necessary to include the state defense education into new curriculum. However, state defense values were inserted into school subjects. He also agreed if the state defense was taught from the earlier phase by introducing students to the national flag and other state symbols.

Indonesia Kekurangan Sarjana Teknik

Media Indonesia, halaman 10

Orientasi pendidikan tinggi nasional perlu ditata kembali agar lebih sesuai aturan tuntutan zaman dan kebutuhan di masyarakat. Apalagi, ke depan Indonesia akan lebih banyak membutuhkan sarjana dengan kemampuan teknik yang memadai.

Hal itu diungkapkan Menteri Koordinator bidang Pembangunan Manusia dan Kebudayaan Puan Maharani dalam acara Wisuda Sarjana ke-29 Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), di Malang, Jawa Timur, Sabtu (27/2).

Puan mengungkapkan bahwa lulusan perguruan tinggi di bidang non teknik di Indonesia saat ini diperkirakan mencapai 75%-85%. Menurutnya, banyaknya lulusan non-teknik tidak terlalu kondusif untuk mendukung penguasaan ilmu pengetahuan, teknologi dan peningkatan saya saing.

Karena, lanjut Puan, untuk peningkatan daya saing di Masyarakat Ekonomi ASEAN (MEA), pemerintah akan mengalokasikan lebih dari Rp.5000 triliun unutk pembangunan infrastruktur. Oleh sebab itu, dibutuhkan banyak tenaga kerja di bidang teknik.

Indonesia Lacks Engineers

Media Indonesia, halaman 10

The orientation of national higher education must be revisited to be adapted into the actual needs of the society. Furthermore, in the future Indonesia will have stronger demand for competent engineers.

It was asserted by Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani on the Malang Muhammadiyah University’s (UMM) 29^th graduation in Malang, East Java on Wednesday (27/2).

Puan said currently it was estimated university graduates from non-engineering study programs reached 75-85 percent. According to her, the figure was not conducive to support the development of science and technology and the improvement of competitiveness.

Therefore, Puan continued, to increase competitiveness in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the government would allocate more than a Rp 5,000 trillion fund for infrastructure development. In doing so, a massive number of engineers were required.

Perguruan Tinggi Islam Meningkat

Republika, halaman 5

Perkembangan perguruan tinggi (PT) Islam di Tanah Air diklaim Kementerian Agama mengalami pertumbuhan pesat. Menurut Menteri Agama Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, ini menunjukkan kesadaran umat Islam tentang arti pentingnya keberadaan lembaga pendidikan tinggi.

Menurut Menag, dahulu masyarakat banyak membangun pendidikan madrasah. Saat ini, arahnya sudah membangun perguruan tinggi. Belakangan, banyak perguruan tinggi Islam yang sudah berubah status, mulai dari sekolah tinggi Islam menjadi institut Agama Islam. Begitu pula dari institut Agama Islam menjadi Universitas. Menag tak merinci detail angka pertumbuhan PT Islam di Tanah Air. Ia hanya menyebut, di beberapa pesantren juga muncul universitas.

Sistem pengajaran di lembaga-lembaga tersebut sudah mulai ada yang memadukan antara pelajaran agama dan pelajaran umum. Sehingga, dikotomi antara ilmu pengetahuan umum dan ilmu agama yang sekian lama menghantui umat Islam, kini bisa diminimalisasi. Di lembaga pendidikan Islam itulah, menurut Menag, akan lahir ulama yang tidak hanya menguasai ilmu agama. Tapi juga menguasai ilmu pengetahuan umum.

Islamic Higher Education on the Rise

Republika, page 5

Development of Islamic higher education institutions (PT) in the country is claimed by Ministry of Religious Affairs to experience rapid growth. According to Minister of Religious Affairs (Menag) Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, this indicates the awareness of Muslims on the importance of the existence of higher education institutions.

According to Menag, previously many people used to build madrassa education. Today, its direction is to build higher education. Recently, there are many Islamic higher education institutions that have changed status, starting from sekolah tinggi Islam to become Institute of Islamic Religion. Similarly from Institute of Islamic Religion to become a University. Menag did not specify the details of the growth rate of PT Islam in the country. He just mentioned, in several Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) there also appeared universities.

The system of teaching in these institutions has started to combine religious studies and general subjects. So the dichotomy between general knowledge and religious knowledg which has haunted Muslims could now be minimized. In these Islamic educational institutions, according to Menag, would be born clerics who do not only master the science of religion, but also master general science.

Pemahaman Konsep Terabaikan di Kelas

Kompas, halaman 12

Kecenderungan siswa SMA ikut program bimbingan belajar dengan orientasi masuk perguruan tinggi favorit mencerminkan sistem pendidikan hanya mengejar nilai bagus. Pemahaman akan konsep setiap materi ajar terabaikan. Capaian pembelajaran pun tak jelas. Demikian pandangan konsultan metode mengajar dan kurikulum Weilin Han.

Weilin menilai orientasi belajar untuk lulus ujian juga menjadikan siswa hanya ingin mempelajari materi yang akan keluar ketika ujian, seperti Ujian Nasional (UN) dan Seleksi Bersama Masuk Perguruan Tinggi Negeri (SBMPTN). Agar bisa bertahan di dalam peringkat yang baik, siswa beramai-ramai mengikuti bimbingan belajar. Hal ini justru membuat proses belajar menjadi beban dan menghilangkan pembelajaran yang bertujuan menekankan pemahaman serta mengembangkan ilmu pengetahuan.

Pendapat Weilin dibenarkan oleh Karina Apriliana (21), mahasiswi Universitas Padjajaran. Ia menjelaskan, persyaratan untuk masuk program studi idamannya itu sulit, kuotanya juga kecil sehingga persaingan ketat. Pada waktu semester kedua di kelas XII, ia mengikuti bimbel setiap hari. Hobi dan kehidupan sosial rela dikorbankan sementara demi lulus SBMPTN.

Menurut Weilin, penekanan pada mengembangkan kreativitas di dalam mata pelajaran merupakan hal yang langka dilakukan di zaman sekarang. Ia menjabarkan, semua rumpun mata pelajaran dipelajari dengan cara menghafal. Jarang dipraktikkan pemahaman mengenai konsep dan pentingnya belajar ilmu tersebut untuk kehidupan sehari-hari. Hal tersebut yang menjadikan orang Indonesia tidak pandai melakukan analisis mendalam dan mencari jalan keluar untuk berbagai persoalan di masyarakat.

Concept Understanding Neglected in Classroom

Kompas, page 12 Kompas

The tendency of high school (SMA) students participating in tutoring programs oriented towards entrance to favorite universities reflects the education system to merely pursue good grades. Understanding of concepts of every teaching material is neglected. Learning outcomes are also unclear. This is the view of teaching methods and curriculum consultant Weilin Han.

Weilin assesses learning orientation to pass exams also prompts students to only want to study materials that would appear in exams, such as the National Exams (UN) and State University Entrance Joint Selection (SBMPTN). In order to endure in a good ranking, students throng to tutoring programs (bimbel). This would instead make the learning process burdensome and eliminates learning that is aimed to emphasize understanding as well as developing science.

Weilin’s opinion was justified by Karina Apriliana (21), student of the University of Padjajaran. She explained the requirements to enter her dream study program were difficult; its quota was also small so it was very competitive. In the second semester in grade XII, she took part in bimbel every day. Her hobbies and social life were willingly sacrificed temporarily for the sake of passing SBMPTN.

According to Weilin, emphasis on developing creativity in a subject is a rare thing today. He explained all subject clusters are learned by rote. Rarely practiced is the understanding of concepts and the importance of learning the science for daily life. This is what makes the Indonesian people not good in making in depth analyses and to seek solutions for various problems in society.