Banten needs to educate itself<\/p>\n
By Ridwan M. Sijabat<\/p>\n
RANGKASBITUNG, Banten (JP): A daunting problem which must be
\nimmediately faced by the newly established province of Banten is
\ndeveloping the education sector.<\/p>\n
Without it many realize that the province can never achieve
\nits full potential.<\/p>\n
Much of the onus remains on the inexperienced provincial
\nadministration, but some residents have also taken up the
\ninitiative.<\/p>\n
Juaniardi, a Teacher Training Institute (IKIP) graduate, is
\none of the those who have tried to improve the quality of human
\nresources in the least developed regencies in the province.<\/p>\n
In 1998 he and three of his colleagues established a student
\ntraining center Insan Mulia in his hometown Rangkasbitung.<\/p>\n
\"The first year, we had only ten students. Now we have 230
\njunior and senior high school students who take numerous courses
\nin the training center,\" he told The Jakarta Post here recently.<\/p>\n
He cited that with the 15 teachers and staff in the institute
\nthey have helped some 60 percent of its graduates on to
\n\"prestigious\" universities and institutes.<\/p>\n
Juniardi said the center was set up due to a common concern
\nover prevalent illiteracy and the low quality of education in the
\nLebak regency.<\/p>\n
He claims that of the 1.02 million people in Lebak, 40
\npercent, or 400,000, are illiterate because they have never gone
\nto school and of the remaining 600,000, 98 percent are only
\nelementary school graduates or high school graduates while two
\npercent are university or academy graduates.<\/p>\n
He lamented the state of formal education where thousands of
\nelementary school students in remote villages attend classes
\nsitting on mats as their classrooms have not been repaired
\nfollowing the recent earthquake that jolted the regency.<\/p>\n
Community leaders also expressed similar concern over the poor
\nquality of human resources and the means available to improve
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Syech Rafiuddin, a director of an Islamic boarding school near
\nthe town, called on the local administration to launch a campaign
\nto motivate the habit of reading among the people.<\/p>\n
He said that the regency would continue to lag behind other
\nregencies and the people would remain poor if things did not
\nchange.<\/p>\n
\"The majority of local people can pronounce the entire verses
\nof the Koran, but they can't read the Latin alphabet while all
\ninformation sources are written down in Latin alphabet text-books
\nand newspapers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Tubagus Hasan, an influential figure in Serang, called on the
\nprovincial administration to give high priority to the matter.<\/p>\n
\"No party, including the West Java provincial administration,
\nhave given serious attention to the shortage of education
\ninstitutions, the low quality of education and of human resources
\nin the region,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Prior to becoming a province itself, Banten was previously
\nunder the administrative control of West Java.<\/p>\n
Tubagus said the lack of attention to human resources in the
\npast by the West Java provincial administration was due to the
\nlack of awareness of many officials who have little insight into
\nthe problems of the area.<\/p>\n
\"Almost all officials in strategic positions in the
\nadministration, including regents, deputy regents and regency
\nsecretaries were appointed from the provincial capital (of
\nBandung),\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that investors coming into the province have also
\nfailed to participate significantly in helping improve the
\nquality of human resources.<\/p>\n
\"The provincial administration should be encouraged to give
\nincentives for investors to invest in the province, but they must
\nbe obliged to participate in the development of local
\ncommunities, especially in the education sector,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Kiras S., a local education observer, called on giant
\ncompanies in the province to provide scholarships for talented
\nstudents to study overseas.<\/p>\n
\"Russia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore have all
\nsucceeded in developing their nations after sending their
\ntalented youths to study in Britain and the United States,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He remarked that it was an irony that Malaysia sent its
\nstudents to study in Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s but now,
\nhundreds of Indonesians are studying in that country.<\/p>\n
Kiras also called on the provincial administration to study
\nthe possibility of establishing a state university in the province
\nas other provinces had their own state university.<\/p>\n
\"The Tirtayasa University in Cilegon could be developed into a
\nstate university with financial support from the local budgets of
\nthe four regencies and two mayoralties,\" he said.<\/p>",
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