Learning Concept in Ramadan to Be Announced Next Week, Education Minister Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Minister of Elementary and Secondary Education Abdul Mu'ti said that a circular regarding learning activity at school in the Islamic fasting month of will be issued no later than next week.

Mu'ti said that the draft of the circular regarding learning during the month of Ramadan has been completed. This draft involves five ministries, namely the Coordinating Ministry of Human Development and Culture, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, the Ministry of Interior and the Presidential Staff Office.

Mu'ti said that there's been a mutual agreement and now the draft is complete. The draft is only awaiting the signatures of three ministers, namely the Minister of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Minister of Interior, and the Minister of Religious Affairs.

"God willing, it'll be ready next week because the draft is complete," Mu'ti said at the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Friday, January 17, 2025, yet he did not elaborate further about the Ramadan learning concept.

Earlier, Abdul Mu'ti revealed that he was considering three options for the Ramadan school holiday mechanism that would be proposed later in a meeting of various ministries and institutions. The three options put forward by the Ministry of Elementary and Secondary Education are proposals developed based on findings in the community and have not yet become final decisions.

In the first option, some have suggested that the school holiday of Ramadan be fully implemented for one month. This proposal is accompanied by the idea of scheduling religious activities that can be held in the community.

Second, there is a proposal to implement the Ramadan holiday like previous years when the school holiday be implemented at the beginning of Ramadan and the end of Ramadan before Eid al-Fitr Day.

"Usually two or three days until the end (after) the homecoming series. That's what's happening now," Abdul Mu'ti said.

Third, there are also those who propose to abolish the Ramadan school holiday. Students will only get a holiday quota, like the weekly holidays that schools have implemented on previous days. This means that there would be no special school holiday during Ramadan and student would go to school as usual.

"Well, but the point is that these are all suggestions emerged among the community. We certainly monitor these proposals as part of public aspirations, which are healthy in the context of democracy because there is public participation in making public policy," said the education minister.

Salsabilla Azzahra Octavia contributed to this article.

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