Conny Semiawan, the true teacher<\/p>\n
T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Listening is important, but too much emphasis on listening and
\nnot enough practical experience can have a negative effect on the
\nbehavioral development of children.<\/p>\n
Education expert and professor at Jakarta State University
\nConny Riouwskina Semiawan Stamboel says, without interaction,
\n\"students become passive, there is nothing to stimulate their
\ncuriosity.\"<\/p>\n
The poor education system here has much to do with the lack of
\nfunds and the lack of professional teachers. According to Conny,
\nless than 40 percent of elementary school teachers in the country
\nare actually qualified.<\/p>\n
It would be a mistake to assume that such problems are
\nconfined to regional areas. There are also a large number of
\nunqualified teachers in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"There is even a gap in the quality of schools in South
\nJakarta and those in North Jakarta,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Conny will receive the Hamengubuwono IX Award at Yogyakarta's
\nGadjah Mada University on Dec. 19, to mark the university's 54th
\nanniversary. Former minister of the environment Emil Salim will
\nalso be a recipient of the award.
\n While her list of accomplishments is long and the award seems
\nwell-earned, Conny prefers to stay out of the limelight. She is a
\nreluctant interviewee and says she is happy about the award, but
\nfor the sake of her institute only.
\n She was formerly rector of the Jakarta Teachers Training
\nInstitute (IKIP) (now Jakarta State University) from 1984 to
\n1992, after which she held a number of important positions: She
\nwas a member of the National Accreditation Board of Higher
\nEducation (1992-2003); head of the Commission of the Education
\nScience Discipline at the Ministry of National Education (1999-
\n2002); and a consultant with the World Bank's project for the
\neducation of elementary school teachers (1992-1999)<\/p>\n
Conny is an emeritus professor, but teaches post-graduate
\nstudents at the Jakarta State University, the University of
\nIndonesia and the Trisakti University. She is also an active
\nmember of many organizations, including the National Research
\nInstitute and the Indonesian Music Foundation.<\/p>\n
\"I like playing piano. I love classical music, Beethoven,
\nSchubert, Chopin.,\" said Conny, once a piano teacher too.<\/p>\n
Born in 1930 in the town of Madiun, East Java, she was taught
\nto play the piano by her mother, who also taught her French. Her
\nfather, M. Stamboel, was a respected doctor and a health official
\nduring the Dutch colonial era. He took an active part in the
\nestablishment of Boedi Oetomo youth organization (a pioneer
\norganization that led the political struggle against the ruling
\ncolonial administration).<\/p>\n
Conny went to a Dutch elementary school. But before she had
\ncompleted her education there, the Japanese took power. The
\nschool was closed down and she was enrolled at Sekolah Rakyat
\n(literally the people's school). Most of the students there were
\npoor.<\/p>\n
\"I went to school wearing shoes and dressed neatly with a
\nribbon in my hair, while many of the other students were barefoot
\nand had fleas in their hair. They teased me, saying that I was a
\nDutch girl who had tried to become like the Javanese,\" Conny, the
\nyoungest of five siblings, recalled.<\/p>\n
The little girl returned home crying, but her father told her
\nthat she should try to understand the situation.<\/p>\n
\"He told me that the people now had a chance to go to school
\nand to move forward. He told me about the concept of education
\nfor all. And at the age of 11, I became 'mature',\" Conny said.<\/p>\n
Her father's words remain vivid even in adulthood. In a way he
\nhad influenced her future career.<\/p>\n
\"When I was still a little girl, I played at being a teacher.
\nAfter school I was the teacher, my housemaids the students. I
\ntaught them to read and to write,\" said Connie, adding that she
\nlearned how to teach from her mother.<\/p>\n
Connie graduated from the school of education, University of
\nIndonesia, in 1962 and got her masters degree in rehabilitation
\ncounseling from IKIP Jakarta, in 1978.<\/p>\n
She did not study overseas because she wanted to be with her
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
\"I couldn't do that. I have seven children,\" she said, adding
\nthat she breast-fed all of them, even though she was busy
\nteaching.<\/p>\n
In 1975, when her youngest child was five years old, she
\naccepted the Dutch government's invitation to study there for a
\nfew months. The following year, USAID gave her the chance to take
\na short-course in guidance counseling.<\/p>\n
Educating children is Conny's passion. In the 1950s, she
\nhelped establish 11 kindergartens in Bandung, West Java. From
\n1967 to 1977 she was the driving force behind the establishment
\nof a special school for disabled children in Medan, North
\nSumatra.<\/p>\n
She is also concerned about the way in which gifted children
\nare educated here. Many highly intelligent or talented children
\nbecome underachievers, she says, as their teachers do not know
\nhow to deal with them.<\/p>\n
As a mother and an educator, Conny is well aware of the
\nimportance of sex education. In 1989 she co-edited the
\ncontroversial Adik Baru (New Sibling), a book to explain sex to
\nchildren. The book was banned here, despite its relatively
\nstandard content.<\/p>\n
Times have changed, there is more freedom of expression, but
\nthe ban remains. But for her own reasons Conny chooses not to
\ncomment on the book.<\/p>",
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