The guidelines are expected to be ready in the next few months and implemented in Catholic schools when the next academic year begins. “What we are doing is in response to the current situation, where radicalism is so strong, including among teenagers,” Franciscan Father Vinsensius Darmin Mbula, chairman of the National Council of Catholic Education told ucanews.com on July 10. “To stem this, we believe one solution is through education,” he said.
Father Mbula referred to a 2015 survey in 171 schools in Jakarta and Bandung, West Java that revealed 9.5 percent of students supported violence committed by radical groups, including the so-called Islamic State group. An earlier survey by the Institute for Islamic and Peace Studies revealed that almost 50 percent of students supported radical ideas. He said advice would be sought from Islamic experts and thinkers from other religions.
