BOOK 1

LOVE OUR COUNTRY

Prepared by Diyah Ayu Rizqiani

Name :

Student Number :

Class :
 Thinking Before Reading

Before you read, do the following:

1. Preview the reading
2. Connect the Reading to your own experience by answering the following
questions:
a. Do you have experience studying in public school? How do the teachers treat
students from the minority group?
b. How do teachers develop tolerance at school?

Reading Zone

Preview this article. After you have finished previewing, go to answer the questions.

Speak up on Religious Discrimination at School

At the age of 17, when she applied for the

Sati (not her real name) is a Hindu living in
Jakarta. In 1991, she had to pose as a Muslim
when she enrolled in a public elementary
school for safety reasons. Consequently, she
should attend every hour of the Islamic class
and participated in the various activities of
Islamic worship such as prayers and reading
the Quran. This went on for ten years until
she enrolled in senior high school.
national ID card, her father suggested her to
fill Islam in the religion column. At that
point, she refused and insisted on becoming
her true self, a Hindu — a decision that she
regretted later when her sister miserably
became a target in a riot involving Muslims
and Hindus in South Lampung, Sumatra in
2012. The mobs burnt her sister’s house to
ashes, forcing her to flee and hide for weeks.
Sati's sister suffered a miscarriage on the run.
Nowadays, to be a non-Muslim in Indonesia
implies the inevitability of a troublesome and
unjust daily life. Discrimination against non-
Islamic communities has been so prevalent
that children are becoming easy targets. The
blatant religious discrimination is quite
expansive, harming students’ educational
rights.
In May 2016, Zulfa Nur Rohman, a
vocational secondary school student in
Semarang Central Java, failed the 11th grade
for a religious reason. He could not continue
to 12th grade since he refused to reading the
Quran and perform prayers in the mandatory
Islamic studies classes.
Zulfa became a victim of an unjust policy at
his school because he is an adherent of a
traditional faith, Hayu Ningrat. When
enrolled in kindergarten, his parents had to
declare their religion. Since Indonesia's 1965
Blasphemy Law does not accommodate his
faith, Zulfa's parents claimed themselves as
Muslims. Zulfa then had to follow all the
Islamic studies classes and participate in
every worship activity. When he refused to
perform the prayers and recite the mandatory
declaration of faith or shahadah, his teacher
gave a zero score. Thus, he could not
continue to the next grade.
These cases by no means only belong in the
past. Just last June, a public junior high
school in Banyuwangi, East Java, rejected a
girl because she was not a Muslim. The
student identified as NWA, complained to
local education authorities who ordered the
school to enroll her. However, the school
required her to wear the hijab even though
she is a Christian.
When she returned to the local education
office, the officials refused to take any
actions and suggested she enroll in another
school. Fortunately, the incident was all over
the news. Regent AZWAR ANAS expressed
outrage and the school withdrew its
nonsensical policy – though the student
applied and was accepted at another school.
Sati, Zulfa, and NWA are just a small number
of students who experienced religious
discrimination in Indonesia schools.
The abusive behavior often targets minority
students, both in verbal or physical forms of
bullying by other students of the majority
group. Bullying worsens when the system
endorses the discrimination by default, as
happened to Sati and Zulfa. The government
has so far shown no serious intention to
alleviate those cases.
Public schools are supposed to accept
students regardless of race, ethnicity, social
class or religion. The Education Act states
education is organized in a democratic, fair,
and non-discriminative manner by upholding
human rights, religious and cultural values,
including respect for pluralism.
It is the duty of the ministries of education
and religious affairs to manage the education
system, while local education authorities are
responsible for education in schools. They
should also be responsive regarding
discrimination in public schools.
The necessity to fill the religion column for
enrollment seems to be the starting point of
discrimination at school. The religion column
in the national ID card also often triggers
such discrimination.
Indonesian law has liberated civilians to
leave the religious column on their ID card
empty. However, many officials remain
unaware of this and are unwilling to process
ID cards of those who refuse to choose one of
the six official religions.
On the other hand, the blasphemy law
threatens citizens who leave the religion
column vacant on their ID cards. Citizens
could be prosecuted and punished for being
an atheist -- while acknowledging one of the
six religions which is not in accordance with However, government policy improvements
their true beliefs also risks being prosecuted will definitely take time, while religious
for falsifying one’s identity. discrimination against non-Muslim students
occurs round the clock. Thus, the role and
If the government is serious about addressing
support of the community, as well as that of
religious discrimination in schools, President
the media is essential. We need society to be
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his Cabinet must
alert of any religious discrimination, raise the
begin to review all policies with loopholes for
issue to gain public attention and raise
any religious discrimination. Local
awareness. Being silent and passive when
education authorities should be more
knowing or witnessing religious
responsive responding reports of
discrimination against minority students is
discrimination against non-Muslim students,
not an option.
primarily in public schools. Also, the
Education and Culture Ministry should
examine any discriminative public-school
policies.

(Adopted from The Jakarta Post, 9 August 2017)

Answer the questions. Remember, do not look back!

1. What is this article about?
2. What are some discriminations encountered by non-Muslim students at public
schools in Indonesia?
3. What are the author’s arguments about the religious discrimination at public
schools?
4. Why does the author consider that the government have not solved seriously the
issue of religious discrimination in public schools?
5. According to the author, what are the duties of good citizens against the religious
discrimination in public schools?

Compare your answer with other students, then go back and read the whole passage!

CL Corner

Instructions:
- Work in group consists of 4-5 students.
- Read a list of critical literacy questions given by your lecturer
- Choose the questions which fit with the passage and discuss the answers with your
groups.

Lists of critical literacy questions:

 Who is in the story enjoys the most freedom? Why?

 Who is in the story has the least freedom? Why?

 Who made the messages?

 Why was it made?

 Who is the target audience for this message?

 How might different people interpret the message differently?

 What point of views, values, information, and opinions are overt?

Implied?
 What voices, point of view, and perspectives are missing? How

significant is their omission?

 Who is most likely to benefit from this text?

 Why was this text produced?

Look and See

Instructions:
- Work in group consists of 4-5 students
- Watch the video about religious
discrimination at schools, part by part.
- Predict the story about what will happen
next by filling in the table.

MAKING PREDICTIONS

What has happened What will happen What actually

so far? next and why? happened?

Discussion Forum

Instructions:
- Compare the passage and video.
- Fill in the table to show your view of the story
 WRITING SUMMARY

Passage Video
How might
each is
different?
Main issues

Write 6
sentences to
describe the
events

Writing Space

- What do you learn after reading the passage and watch the video?
- As the candidate of teacher, what will you do after you learn the religious discrimination
at schools?
- Write a reflective journal to express your ideas!

Reflective Journal
 Thinking Before Reading

Instruction: Divide the class into some groups consist of 4-5 students and answer these
following questions:
1. How worst is the trash in your environment?
2. Take a picture to show the plastic waste around your environment.
3. Write a short description about your photo and share in class discussion.
4. Bring your photo to class and compare it with the condition in the passage.

Reading Zone

Indonesia’s Plastic Waste Problem

Indonesia has a major plastic waste problem
on its hands. At the moment, the country is
second only to China when it comes to
dumping plastic waste into the world’s
oceans. According to a Study by the
University of Georgia, an estimated 3.22
million metric tons of plastic waste is tossed
annually into the ocean surrounding
Indonesia, while another 8.82 million metric
tons of China’s plastic waste also makes its
way into the ocean.
The crisis of plastic waste isn’t just limited to
the ocean, but it has also affected Indonesian
rivers. Data from Nature Communications
revealed that four of Indonesia’s rivers –
Brantas, Solo, Serayu and Progo – rank
among the 20 most polluted rivers in the
world.
Last April, Bandung, Indonesia’s third
largest city witnessed the concentration of
plastic waste so thick that locals there said it
resembled an iceberg. The plastic
waste problem became so drastic in
Bandung that the army had to be called
in to assist. This incident is emblematic
of the scale of the plastic waste
problem that Indonesia faces.

In Indonesia, plastic is everywhere.

Aside from plastic bags, one can find
everyday objects such as tables and
chairs made from plastic too. This is
probably due to the fact that plastic
products are cheap to produce in the
country. The ubiquity of plastic bags
combined with the lack of awareness
of how damaging plastic waste can be on the
environment are probably among the reasons
why Indonesia is facing this predicament.

Impact
All over the world, there is a growing
movement to completely eliminate plastics
from daily use. Studies have shown that the
use and disposal of plastic has a detrimental
effect on the environment.
In Indonesia, the effects are becoming more
apparent as rivers and oceans become
clogged up with plastic waste. The enormous
quantities of plastic waste have also taken a
toll on marine life as animals often get
entangled in the plastic waste and die.
Meanwhile, the plastic waste choking rivers
deprive local communities of their source of
food and water. Clogged rivers also increase
the likelihood of flooding which would be
damaging to the surrounding communities.
Most plastic is non-recyclable and not
biodegradable, meaning that it usually ends
up in landfills – and Indonesia has plenty of
them. The largest landfill in Indonesia is the
Bantar Gebang landfill in Jakarta. Over 900
trucks operate there and deliver more than
5,000 tonnes of solid waste every day.
These landfills can be hazardous to the
environment as plastic waste also releases
harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.
Initially, the landfills pollute the groundwater
as chemicals seep into the ground and
eventually make their way to rivers and lakes.
Landfills also emit methane gas which is
known to contribute to air pollution.
What can be done?
As countries are becoming more conscious of
their contributions to climate change,
Indonesia too needs to follow suit. Last year,
the government there set a target to reduce
plastic waste up to 70 percent by 2025. To
achieve this target, the government said that
it will contribute US$1 billion annually to the
effort.
In 2016, Indonesia tried to reduce plastic use
by introducing a US$0.02 tax on single-use
plastic bags. Critics decried the move, saying
that the charge was not high enough to deter
consumers. Later that year, the country’s
retailers’ association stopped charging for
plastic bags citing lack of legal grounds.
This year, the Indonesian government has
said that it is planning to introduce excise
taxes on plastics producers. The exact figures
haven’t been revealed yet, but observers are
not expecting it to have much of an impact on
plastic use.
Meanwhile in India, New Delhi has
introduced a ban on single-use plastic. Part of
the enforcement there includes a fine of up to
US$367 for those caught selling plastic with
an additional three months jail for repeat
offenders. Australia too has taken part in
efforts to reduce disposable plastic bags.
Single-use plastic bags are now banned in
Western Australia, Queensland, South
Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital
Territory and the Northern Territory.
Globally, more than 60 countries have taken
steps to ban or reduce the use of plastic.
The Indonesian government’s actions in
combatting plastic use and production has
been relatively toothless compared to efforts
elsewhere. If the country is serious about
protecting the environment then it needs to
take more drastic action. The government is
aware how much Indonesia contributes
globally to plastic waste pollution in the
ocean and it is also aware that measures ought
to be taken soon. However, the political will
needed to address the problem is still lacking.
(Adopted from The Asean Post Team, 6 July
2018)
CL Corner

Instructions:
- Choose some questions which fit with the passage
- Discuss the answers with your group
- Share your opinion in class discussion

1. Where might you find this text?

2. What is the topic?

3. What is its purpose?

4. To whom it is written?

5. What is the text’s unspoken, underlying message?

6. Whose interest are served by the text?

7. What is the author’s position on the topic?

8. Whose viewpoint is expressed?

9. What does the author want us to think?

10. What action might you take on the basis of what you have learned?

11. What is the author’s view about plastic waste problem?

12. What is the author’s view about the effect of plastic waste?

13. What is the author’s view about the solution to reduce plastic waste?

14. Where in the passage can you find evidences to support your answers?

Look and See

Identifying and Selecting Topic
Topic is the general subject of an entire paragraph. Every sentence in a paragraph is some
way discuss or explain this topic. To find the topic of a paragraph, you need to ask yourself:

What is the one idea the author is discussing throughout the paragraph?
Read the following paragraph with that question in mind:
Indonesia has a major plastic waste problem on its hands. At the moment, the country is

second only to China when it comes to dumping plastic waste into the world’s oceans.

According to a Study by the University of Georgia, an estimated 3.22 million metric tons

of plastic waste is tossed annually into the ocean surrounding Indonesia, while another
8.82 million metric tons of China’s plastic waste also makes its way into the ocean.