Bandung, West Java (ANTARA) - The West Java provincial authority designated the Depok State Senior High School 1 as the first school of tolerance in Indonesia and expects other schools in Indonesia to emulate it.

"The first school of tolerance in Indonesia can be an example for other schools in West Java and in general, in Indonesia," West Java Education Office Head Dedi Supandi stated here on Friday.

The office head remarked that the Depok State Senior High School 1 was officiated as a school of tolerance during a ceremony attended by Depok Mayor Muhammad Idris and Jayakarta Military District Commander Major General Untung Budiharto on Wednesday (Apr 20).

The designation of the state high school as a school of tolerance is aimed at promoting and nurturing nationalistic values through education, including by integrating anti-radicalism and tolerance values in the school curriculum, he noted.

"For future implementation, we expect that anti-radicalism and tolerance values are integrated into the civic studies' curriculum in educational institutions in cities and districts," Supandi stated.

The office head pointed out that anti-corruption education conceived by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), and Attorney General's Office had been integrated into the senior high school-level civic studies' curriculum.

"I also hope that pupils would have one particular agenda every day. For instance, on Monday, they will discuss nationalism, while on Tuesday, the topic will be unity, Wednesday about local culture, while on Thursday, they discuss deliberation and consensus, Friday about religion, and Saturday about a visit to grandparents," he expounded.

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The implementation of those values in school education will be a means of instilling Pancasila values that pupils must understand, he emphasized.

"The daily agenda will be our effort (to instil Pancasila values)," Supandi affirmed.

Meanwhile, Jayakarta Military District Commander Budiharto stressed that schools should partake in instilling values of tolerance among pupils, who will further spread the values in society.

He highlighted that values of tolerance that should be taught in schools encompassed respect for each other and willingness to cooperate and to live in harmony with all regardless of ethnic groups and religions.

"Those values must be spread to other schools because tolerance is our power to maintain the unity of the family, social units, and the Indonesian nation," Budiharto remarked.

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Translator: Ajat Sudrajat, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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