‘Private teachers tend to be more intolerant than public teachers’

ARRAHMAH.CO.ID – Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) UIN Jakarta, Saiful Umam, revealed that Muslim teachers in private schools or madrasas tend to be more intolerant of followers of other religions than teachers who teach at state schools or Islamic School.

“Likewise, private school or madrasah teachers are more radical than a state school or madrasah teachers,” said Umam after the PPIM Survey Launching event in Jakarta, Tuesday (16/10).

This information is based on a survey conducted by PPIM from 6 August to 6 September 2018. The survey results show that the mean of public school or madrasah teachers is 48.71. Meanwhile, the mean of private school or madrasah teachers is 45.44.

“The less the mean, the higher the intolerance,” he explained.

Not only that, but Umam also said that madrasah teachers tend to be more intolerant of non-Muslims than school teachers. The figure is that Islamic school teachers (mean = 44.66) m while school teachers are 47.79.

“Madrasa teachers are more intolerant of followers of other religions than school teachers,” he explained.

The total sample of teachers surveyed reached 2,237 people from 34 provinces in Indonesia. The sample of female teachers was 1,335 people (59.79 percent), while male teachers were 898 people (40.21 percent). The teacher sample was also classified into several categories; 1172 public school teachers (52.39 percent), 1065 private people (47.61 percent), 925 civil servant teachers (41.35 percent), 270 non-PNS employees (12.08 percent), 562 permanent foundations (25.13), and honorary 479 people (21.42).

This survey uses two measuring instruments to measure the level of intolerance and radicalism. First, the Implicit Association Test (IAT). This measuring tool is used to see the potential for teacher intolerance and radicalism implicitly. Second, a questionnaire. This is to explicitly assess intolerance and radicalism and the factors that influence them.