JakartaPost-Aug 3
Experts and activists have censured the government’s plan to introduce a syllabus for religious schools aimed at preventing what it has described as the “spread of LGBTQ culture”, calling the policy a misplaced priority that risked fueling discrimination. On July 27, the Religious Affairs Ministry announced it was finalizing learning materials that would be integrated into classes at religious educational institutions nationwide, including pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), faith-based schools and religious higher education institutions based on the six constitutionally recognized faiths. “At the very least, we see that the most important thing is to build awareness on preventing the spread of LGBT cultures to students in education institutions under the ministry,” Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Romo Muhammad Syafi’i said in a statement on July 27. According to Islamic Higher Education Director Inung, who also heads the ministry’s syllabus drafting team, work is ongoing on the materials with the education directorates for Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism engaging in collaborative discussions on a shared framework. The syllabus would later be adapted in line with each faith’s views on LGBTQ, he added. Inung said the team aimed to complete the draft by mid-August, after which it would be discussed further with experts and other stakeholders prior to its formal adoption at a date yet to be determined. The ministry stated that the planned syllabus was a follow-up to Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 111/2025 on the 2025-2029 national defense policy, which identifies the promotion of LGBTQ culture as a nonmilitary threat alongside from trafficking, atheism and terrorism. The regulation was signed last October but publicly resurfaced in June, which is recognized globally as Pride Month, and it has since drawn criticism from rights groups over its potential to legitimize systemic discrimination against LGBTQ people. Ina Liem, founder CEO of university and career counseling platform Jurusanku, has questioned the ministry’s priorities in drafting a syllabus that ostensibly promotes discrimination against “LGBTQ culture” in the face of more immediate issues related to school safety, such as campus sexual violence. “The purpose of education is to help children grow into healthy individuals with strong character who respect others, not to reinforce prejudice or make certain groups feel excluded,” Ina said on July 30. According to a 2025 report by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), nearly 100 cases of sexual violence at schools were reported between 2020 and 2024, with pesantren ranking second only after universities in the number of incidents.
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