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Priests back Indonesia plan for ecology lessons in schools

Government believes new subject will raise awareness of need to protect the environment
Priests back Indonesia plan for ecology lessons in schools

Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar delivers speech at a seminar held by Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta. (Photo by Ryan Dagur)

Published: May 10, 2016 08:53 AM GMT
Updated: May 10, 2016 08:56 AM GMT

Catholic priests have expressed support for a government plan to make ecological studies part of Indonesia's school curriculum to help raise awareness among students about the need to protect the environment.

The government last year announced plans introduce the subject of ecological education to be taught in state elementary schools as well as junior and senior high schools.

The new subject will be introduced in the very near future, according to the Environment and Forestry Ministry, which is coordinating with several other ministries to come up with a course.

"It's a step forward. The environment is worsening now, but efforts to raise awareness among people about the importance of protecting nature have been lacking," Franciscan Father Peter C. Aman, a moral theology lecturer at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, told ucanews.com on May 9 in Jakarta.

The government plan "is in accordance with the church's commitment" too, he said referring to Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si’ which stresses the need to preserve the earth.

The priest suggested that education on the environment also be extended to government officials as well.

"Government officials need to be given similar knowledge as they play a key role in making decisions related to the management of natural resources,” said Father Aman, who is also director of the Franciscan-run Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.

Father Aman was responding to remarks made by Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar at a seminar on May 9 at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy to mark its 47th anniversary.

Bakar said the worsening environmental situation in Indonesia prompted her to try and seek ways of to increase efforts to protect nature.

"Indonesia still faces the problem of forest degradation because of the burning of forests and peatland, illegal logging, pollution and waste," she said.

Some 70 million out of 127 million hectares of forestland in Indonesia face destruction because of industrial exploitation and plantations.

Ecological education in schools will help raise awareness about this and encourage future generations to look after their natural world, she said.

"Education will also encourage an individual to take more concrete action by planting trees and disposing of waste more responsibly," she said.

The minister declined to elaborate on what specific topics would be taught as part of the subject, saying everything was still in the development stage.

Franciscan Father Vinsensius Darmin Mbula, chairman of the National Council of Catholic Education, said material from the new state-school subject, if and when, it is introduced would be integrated into programs that Catholic schools already have.

 

 

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