Environmental Education in Indonesian Schools’ Curricula

Angie Wuysang

Since 2023, the Netherlands-Indonesia Consortium for Muslim-Christian Relations (NICMCR) has addressed the subject of ecology and inclusive education in Indonesia. Following up on this initiative, a collaboration was established between NICMCR and the Faculty of Education of the Nadhlatul Ulama University (UNU) Yogyakarta, which aims to elaborate research related to the theme of environmental education.

Berli Arta, a lecturer in UNU’s English department and team leader of this collaboration, delivered a presentation on the interim findings of their research in July 2024. In his introduction, Arta recognized the necessity for education that raises ecological awareness to be inculcated in people from an early age.  It is for this reason that the team chose elementary schools in Indonesia as its research subjects.  The team has so far discovered that the Environmental Education (EE) which exists in Indonesian elementary (and secondary) education curricula has become a government attention.

There are two types of education management in Indonesia: schools managed or under the control of the Ministry of Education, and schools controlled by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which includes both private and public schools that are usually directly affiliated with religious institutions. Arta emphasized that a gap was found when the team tried to compare the EE implementation in schools managed by the Ministry of Education and madrasa (a Muslim religious school) managed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The UNU-NICMCR collaboration conducted research on documentary records and in the field. The documentary research focused on understanding how the idea of Environmental Education is presented in the school education curriculum as well as to see how it is translated into concepts in schools and madrasa’ curricula. To supplement the documentary research and study how EE works and is implemented, field research was conducted in madrasa and schools in Yogyakarta.

There are two aspects of EE curricula outcomes which were observed, the cognitive and attitude aspects. The subjects that have EE elements in both schools and madrasa are: Indonesian Language, English Language, Islamic Religion, Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Natural and Social Sciences. In the subject of Christianity, as an example of cognitive objectives, students learn to foster a harmonious relationship with nature, maintaining and preserving it as an expression of gratitude to God.  Through this element, students appreciate that the presence of God Almighty is manifested through His creation. As an example of attitude objectives in the subject of Christianity, a life of repentance is demonstrated through forming friendship with everyone, showing empathy, helping others without discriminating based on ethnicity, culture, or religion, and maintaining the natural environment.  According to the team’s assessment as presented by Arta, EE, which is not a compulsory element in the school and madrasah curricula, is given little emphasis, both in terms of time allocation and depth of subject matter.

In the discussion forum, There were questions about the role of teachers in the implementation of EE because students and teachers are both important subjects in terms of education. Given that the team’s research is still ongoing, future Focus Group Discussions will be conducted inviting relevant teachers of madrasa and schools in order to recognize and understand their role in EE.