NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN RICH, POOR IN EDUCATION : MINISTER

Jakarta, Nov 3 (ANTARA) - National Education Minister Mohammad Nuh said there should be no distinction between the rich and the poor, and between rural and urban areas in the educational realm.

The minister made the statement to the press after attending an international seminar on education at Islamic schools (Madrasah) in E-9 member countries at the Borobudur Hotel here on Tuesday.

He said E-9 which is made up of Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan, had a serious concern to develop their education program.

Meanwhile, Religious Affairs Minster Suryadharma Ali on the occasion said the education system at Madrasahs referred to national education curriculum plus religiously-related education.

Suryadharma said the students of Madrasah also 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.

But he admitted that the education quality of the students at Madrashas fell behind the students of the schools under National Education Ministry.

The seminar was opened by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali at Borobudur Hotel here on Tuesday.

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

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 the education system applied in Madrasah was also different from that in other Islamic countries.

Therefore, he said the international seminar time 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 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 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 programs in 2008 and 2009 for the organization of modern Islamic schools (Madrasahs).

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