In an era of technological disruption, Pancasila education can no longer be understood merely as a required course or the memorization of five principles. It must instead be presented as an ethics of knowledge, a living culture, a foundation for global humanity, and a paradigm for developing scholarship capable of responding to the challenges of artificial intelligence (AI). This idea emerged during a panel session at the National Symposium on Pancasila Education, held by UIN Sunan Kalijaga's Centre for Integrative, Interconnected, and Transformative Studies (CIINTRA) in collaboration with the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Development (BPIP) on Monday (7/27/2026) at the first-floor Convention Hall, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta.

Moderated by Dr. Sujadi, M.A., the panel featured four national scholars from different academic disciplines: Prof. Dr. M. Amin Abdullah, Prof. Dr. Melani Budianta, M.A., Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, M.A., and Prof. Dr. Phil. Sahiron Syamsuddin, M.A. Together, the four offered complementary perspectives on how Pancasila can be meaningfully implemented in higher education.

Opening the discussion, Prof. Dr. M. Amin Abdullah presented on “Pancasila as an Ethics of Knowledge and National Spirituality in an Integrative-Interconnective-Transformative Perspective.” He argued that Pancasila instruction has long been dominated by legalistic and rote-memorization approaches, leaving it ill-equipped to address social change, the growth of digital media, and artificial intelligence.

According to Amin Abdullah, Pancasila must be positioned as a living philosophy, an ethics of knowledge guiding how scientists, bureaucrats, faculty, and students think, make decisions, and carry out their professional practice.

“Pancasila cannot simply be understood as a theory or a state document. It must come alive in behavior, becoming an ethical orientation for the development of knowledge and the transformation of society,’ he affirmed.

He also emphasized the importance of the integrative, interconnective, and transformative paradigm; one that connects knowledge, spirituality, and social action as a new direction for Pancasila education in higher institutions.

That perspective was further enriched by Prof. Dr. Melani Budianta, Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia, and recipient of the 2025 Kompas Dedicated Scholar Award. In her presentation titled “Cultivating Pancasila Values,” she stressed that the nation's greatest challenge today is not a lack of knowledge about Pancasila, but the fact that its values have yet to become embedded in everyday life.

Melani outlined a range of social problems that still run counter to Pancasila values, including discrimination, polarization driven by disinformation and hate speech, transactional politics, and social inequality.

She said cultivating Pancasila requires a shift in the surrounding ecosystem, through leadership by example, organizational culture, public policy, and consistent habit-building.

“Pancasila truly comes alive when it becomes a collective habit, shapes how decisions are made, and is expressed in everyday behavior,” she explained.

Next, Prof. Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, Professor of Human Rights and Gender Studies at UIN Sunan Kalijaga and Indonesia's Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, joined the discussion online from Tashkent.

In her presentation titled “Pancasila, Social Inclusion, and Global Humanity,” she explained that Pancasila emerged from a process of national cultural transformation involving every segment of society across religions, ethnicities, genders, and social groups. As a result, Pancasila carries an inclusive character aligned with the principles of human rights and universal values.

Drawing on her experience as a diplomat, Siti Ruhaini said Pancasila gives Indonesia a strategic position in international diplomacy, including efforts to build peace, advance justice, and strengthen global cooperation.

She also noted that Indonesia possesses strong social capital through the spirit of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), which has united more than 1,300 ethnic groups, hundreds of regional languages, and a wide range of religious and cultural diversity within a single national identity.

The panel closed with Prof. Sahiron Syamsuddin, Director of Islamic Higher Education at Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs. In his presentation titled “Knowledge Integration: Islamic Studies, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Robotics,” he showed that the paradigm of knowledge integration does not stop at merging religious and secular scholarship, but must also respond to advances in cutting-edge technology.

Sahiron outlined three models of knowledge integration developed at Islamic higher education institutions: methodical integration, substantive integration, and ethical integration. Together, these form the basis for building a synthesis between Islamic studies and various modern academic disciplines.

He offered the example of how AI and robotics can be applied to the development of Islamic scholarship, such as building databases of Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir) that can help accelerate the learning process. Even so, he noted that technology cannot replace the role of religious scholars and researchers, since religion is not simply about information but also about wisdom, discernment, and character formation.

The panel discussion made clear that strengthening Pancasila education requires a multidisciplinary approach, spanning the strengthening of scholarly ethics, the cultivation of values in daily life, the development of a global humanitarian perspective, and the integration of religious scholarship with cutting-edge technology. Together, these four perspectives underscored the distinctiveness of the integrative, interconnective, and transformative paradigm long developed at UIN Sunan Kalijaga as a genuine contribution to the advancement of Pancasila education in Indonesia. (humassk)