Parents accompany their children to report or reregister at state senior high school SMA Negeri 47 in South Jakarta, Monday (19/6). The second student enrollment at the school will be held from Tuesday (20/6) to Thursday (22/6).
A public policy controversy has arisen from within the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. Regulations are issued and then corrected.
The latest case is the Culture and Education Ministerial Regulation No. 23/2017 on School Days. The ministerial regulation is intended to strengthen the character of students. The Culture and Education Ministry then introduced a five-day school week policy with eight hours in every school day. Some media called it a “full-day” school, which is actually not in the ministerial regulation.
On Tuesday, news came that the application of the five-day school week policy was still waiting for a presidential regulation. The announcement was made by the chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, KH Ma’ruf Amin, who was accompanied by Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy at the State Palace.
As quoted by Kompas on June 20, Ma’ruf said, ”We discussed ministerial regulation No.23/2017 on School Days in connection with the five-day school week, which received widespread reaction from the community and mass organizations. The President has responded to the aspirations growing in the community and understands the wishes of the mass organizations and the Islamic community."
The ministerial regulation will be upgraded to a presidential regulation in an arrangement involving related ministers and mass organizations. It is not yet known when the presidential regulation will be issued. The central executive board of Muhammadiyah supported the Culture and Education Minister\'s plan to implement the presidential regulation.
In the media, the news appeared in diverse ways. There is one that wrote that the Culture and Education Minister\'s regulation was "cancelled". There are others that write "postponed". Muhadjir refuted that there was a "postponement", as the truth was that the legal umbrella for the policy was being upgraded from a ministerial to a presidential regulation.
Under law, the status of a regulation will be determined by the newer regulation. If the ministerial regulation is cancelled, a new ministerial regulation has to be issued.
Controversy in public policymaking is the domestic issue that must be resolved by President Jokowi\'s government. The President should listen to all of those who will be affected by the policy before the policy is published. The State Secretariat should also be able to ensure the appropriate legal umbrella, whether it is to be a ministerial regulation or a presidential regulation. Apparently, the State Secretariat requires someone who has a comprehensive understanding of the juridical science of legislation.
The various interpretations of the Culture and Education Ministerial Regulation No. 23/2017 – whether it is canceled, postponed, or its legal status is upgraded from a ministerial to a presidential regulation – shows the weakness of communication between the State Palace and the public. President Jokowi believes democracy is listening to the will of the people, but the voice of the people should be listened to before a regulation is issued. If not, it will affect the public perception of the government.
