Jakarta, LKLB News – The International Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (CCRL) Program has officially reached two years since it was first held on October 4, 2021. Together with various partners, Institut Leimena has so far organized 40 training classes with at least 5,716 graduates consisting of teachers and religious counselors from 35 provinces in Indonesia.
The program’s graduates are spread across Aceh, Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, all the way to Papua and West Papua. The positive development of the CCRL program brings its own optimism for building stronger interfaith collaboration in Indonesia.
“The interest in learning about religious literacy has not diminished. This is supported by the CCRL program itself, which participants have specifically assessed as having excellent materials and expert speakers in their respective fields,” said Coordinator of the CCRL Training Team, Puansari Siregar, to CCRL News, Monday (October 2, 2023).
Puansari explained that the International CCRL Program can be considered a unique program. Not only is its topic specific, but it also encourages a process of continuous learning. Participants who have completed the one-week CCRL online training can then join various follow-up sessions designed for alumni, such as upgrading courses that delve deeper into training materials, international webinars featuring renowned speakers, as well as workshops on lesson plan (RPP) preparation and writing workshops.
“Graduates of the training also have the opportunity to expand their networks within the CCRL alumni community, including with fellow teachers from different schools or religions, so that together they can build friendship and cooperation for the progress of the nation,” she said.
Puansari added that the CCRL program is currently carried out by Institut Leimena together with at least 19 partner institutions in Indonesia, including the Council for Primary, Secondary, and Non-Formal Education of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah, Maarif Institute, Muhammadiyah Boarding School Development Institute, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Istiqlal Mosque, Ittihad Persaudaraan Imam Masjid (IPIM), Indonesian Association of Islamic Education Teachers (AGPAII), Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University (UIN), UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Alkhairaat Central Board, Alkhairaat University, Indonesian Muslim University (UMI), As’adiyah and Al-Ikhlas boarding schools, and Christian schools such as IPEKA, Tritunggal, Gloria, and Kalam Kudus.
Of the total 5,716 CCRL graduates, the gender distribution is balanced with 52% men and 48% women. The majority of graduates are also still within the productive age of under 45, with the largest group being those aged 20–25 years (24%).
The CCRL Program applies both synchronous (online) learning, where participants listen directly to lectures from speakers, and asynchronous (self-study) learning, by providing reading materials and related assignments via https://belajar.lklb.org/. Participants’ graduation is assessed based on their participation in both synchronous and asynchronous activities, after which they receive a certificate equivalent to a certain number of lesson hours as recognition.
Speakers and several participants of CCRL Training Class 36
Valuable Insights
Alumnus of CCRL Class 36, Muhammad Aufal Minan, said that the CCRL training provided valuable insights, especially regarding religions other than Islam. Aufal is a teacher (da’i) at Al-Barokah Islamic Boarding School, Jogokerten, Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, who joined CCRL training together with about 100 other da’i and da’iyah on August 7–11, 2023.
“In Islam, I already had a lot of knowledge, but even more, I gained knowledge from other religions, such as materials on Judaism and Christianity,” he said.
Aufal stated that the materials in CCRL helped him see common ground within the Abrahamic Religions. What makes the CCRL training distinctive is that participants are invited to understand other religions directly from the perspective of adherents of that religion, thereby fostering empathy and tolerance.
He added that CCRL training teaches three core competencies: personal, comparative, and collaborative. Participants must first understand their own religion comprehensively, not partially, especially in viewing others of different faiths.
“In the past, when we saw people of a different religion, we would somehow feel, ‘Oh, they are others, not the same as us,’ and that kind of feeling was there. But when we hear directly from the ‘insider,’ we realize that there are actually many common points, and that is what we should cultivate—not diminish the similarities and constantly highlight the differences,” he said.
Each CCRL training class involves at least nine speakers focusing on the three CCRL competencies, including the Former Special Envoy of the President of Indonesia for the Middle East and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Prof. Alwi Shihab; Professor of Philosophy at UIN Sunan Kalijaga and Member of the Steering Committee of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), Prof. Amin Abdullah; Senior Research Fellow at the University of Washington, Dr. Chris Seiple; Chairperson of the Advisory Board of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), Rev. Dr. Henriette T. Lebang; and Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations at the American Jewish Committee, Dr. Ari Gordon.