Kiai Ma'ruf Talks about Church and School Construction in Papua

The government, represented by Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, emphasized the country's commitment to the advancement of Indonesia's new generation of human resources, especially Papua. This was conveyed by Ma'ruf during his working visit to West Papua Province, recently.

According to Ma'ruf Papua and West Papua - the two easternmost provinces of Indonesia, must advance and be on an equal footing with other regions.

"We, the central government, are determined, we want to make Papua and West Papua not only equal but also more advanced than other regions," said Ma'ruf as quoted from the setkab.go.id page, Monday October 2021.

During his working visit, Ma'ruf made the statement in front of religious leaders from the West Papua Religious Councils at the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Paulus Sowi, Manokwari, during a meeting.

He also appreciated the various social institutions, including the Religious Councils who helped develop education in West Papua.

It should be noted that various policies on certain regional characteristics will be effective if they are pursued through cultural channels or a religiosity-based approach.

"When I received information from the Reverend Mother, that education and construction of a new church building were being developed here, because it no longer fit, and the existing schools were still staying in (other) places, even though the number (of students were many), later the government will take the role,” said Kiai Ma'ruf, who had served as PBNU's Rais Aam.

Ma'ruf said the government will continue to build Indonesian human resources until the target is to compete with other countries. This commitment is also marked by the government's national program that wants to advance human resources through education.

Moreover, said Ma'ruf, the Papuan people have great talent as the slogan 'Torang Bisa' which became the slogan for organizing PON on Earth of Cendrawasih.

“How do we build quality, healthy, productive human resources who can provide benefits and have competitiveness, and have a competitive spirit. This is what we will continue to build," he said.

"We want this capable person not only to be a slogan, but to be proven through education, development and training efforts."

On that occasion, the Vice President asked the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah who was also present to develop a vocational education program through the Vocational Training Center (BLK) in West Papua. Ma'ruf also said that regarding the revision of the Papua Special Autonomy Law (Otsus), currently the Special Autonomy Fund from the General Allocation Fund (DAU) has increased from the original 2 percent to 2.25 percent. It is hoped that this policy will have an impact on efforts to develop better education.

"I ask that in West Papua, efforts to improve (education) continue to be trained, (so) to produce superior human resources," he said.

SOURCE: https://www.viva.co.id/berita/nasional/1414738-kiai-ma-rsquo-ruf- talk-pembinaan-church-dan-school-di-papua