RELIGIOUS POLICY AND MULTICULTURAL INCLUSION: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES FROM INDONESIA AND SINGAPORE IN SHAPING EDUCATIONAL TRANSFORMATION
Keywords:
Religious Policy, Multicultural Inclusion, Comparative Study, Indonesia, Singapore, English Language Education, Transformative LearningAbstract
This paper examines the management of religious policy and its implications for multicultural education in Indonesia and Singapore. Both nations, though geographically proximate, have developed different approaches in balancing religion, identity, and citizenship within their education systems. Indonesia, with its constitutional commitment to religious education across all recognized faiths, integrates religion into the national curriculum as a compulsory subject, emphasizing both spiritual values and character building. Singapore, by contrast, maintains a secular curriculum where religious education is absent from mainstream schooling, but promotes interfaith understanding through civic education, public initiatives, and institutions such as the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Centre for Interfaith Understanding. Drawing on interviews with interfaith leaders and document analysis of Indonesian religious textbooks and Singaporean educational resources, the study highlights how each country negotiates diversity, social cohesion, and global citizenship. The findings contribute to discussions on inclusive English language education, particularly in relation to the values of innovation, inclusion, and impact within multilingual and multicultural societies
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