Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr watches students work during a visit to an Islamic school in Jakarta on Thursday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr watches students work during a visit to an Islamic school in Jakarta on Thursday. Photo: AP
Indonesia has guaranteed Foreign Minister Bob Carr that none of the 1500 religious schools funded out of Australia's aid budget is teaching radical Islamic doctrine.
As Mr Carr visited an Australia-funded Islamic school in Jakarta on Thursday, the head of Indonesia's powerful Religious Affairs ministry said there was no problem with madrasahs (community-run religious schools) or pesantren (religious boarding schools).
None of the institutions were radical, ministry secretary-general Bahrul Hayat said. ''I can guarantee that, because … the madrasah and pesantren system is under the government system. All … use exactly the same national curriculum [and] we control all of the curriculum for religious education.''
Mr Bahrul said even the Ngruki school in Solo, which was founded by terrorist godfather Abu Bakar Bashir and produced a number of the Bali bombers, was clean.
''If you sit for 24 hours in that madrasah you will not find anything because we follow the [same] system … I think they are committed and there is no difference with other madrasah.''
The problem was with groups outside the schools, Mr Bahrul said. Australia provides no funding to the Ngruki school. There are 68,000 madrasahs in Indonesia and 27,000 pesantren.
Mr Carr said Australia's commitment to funding religious schools, worth $47 million over five years, was ''about a better life for these Indonesian youngsters''.
''I'm very proud that Australian aid has found its way to the Indonesian school system, including madrasahs,'' he said.
The funding had been spent on ''good classrooms, libraries, facilities for teachers''.
''I'm a spending minister and all my instincts are to increase the aid budget,'' he said. ''We have built thousands of schools in Indonesia.''
Australia's funding of religious schools was started under the Howard government, but became controversial in 2011 when Opposition Leader Tony Abbott reportedly had to be talked out of cutting those funds.
His spokeswoman on foreign affairs, Julie Bishop, has since denied that debate ever took place