MINISTER OPENS INT'L SEMINAR ON ISLAMIC SCHOOLS IN E-9 COUNTRIES

Jakarta, Nov 3 (ANTARA) - Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali opened an international seminar on education at Islamic schools (Madrasah) in E-9 member countries at the Borobudur Hotel here on Tuesday.

The E-9 groups Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Suryadharma said the four-day seminar from November 3 to 6 was intended to familiarize E-9 member countries with a model of modern madrasah education and encourage E-9 member countries' commitment to supporting a program for the application of the model.

Madrasah education, according to the religious affairs minister, was different from national education, because Islamic schools in the colonial era were treated like "stepchildren" and education system applied in madrasah was also different from that in other Islamic countries.

Therefore, he said the international seminar on Madrasah education was of great importance for the progress of education in general because the participants of the seminar would gain inputs and exchange experiences with representatives of E-9 member countries in an effort to find the best possible way of improving the professionalism of teachers in Indonesia.

Education observers from Asean countries also attended the seminar which would be followed by visits to a number of national-standard Islamic schools such as Insan Cendikia in Serpong, and Al Masthuriyah Islamic boarding school in Sukabumi, West Java.

At the seminar, Indonesia was to introduce its own program in 2008 and 2009 for the organization of modern Madrasahs.

Present at the seminar's openeng were also National Education Minister Mohammad Nuh, Islamic Educational Director General Mohammad Ali, and other domestic and foreign education practitioners.

After attending the seminar, Mohammad Nuh warned that in the realm of education there should be no discrimination between the rich and the poor, and between the rural and urban areas.

The national education minister said the countries grouped in E-9 were big ones which had a great concern for educational development.

Meanwhile, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said Madrasah education was national education curriculum plus religious education.

Suryadharma said students of Madrasah had the same opportunity to study the subjects given to a number of schools under the National Education Ministry.

"Thus, there is no difference in our effort to develop the education of our students," Suryadharma said.