Govt won't abolish teachers' colleges<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has denied that it wanted to
\ndissolve the state teachers' colleges when it announced its plan
\nto upgrade and change them into universities.<\/p>\n
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro told
\nthe press after meeting with President Soeharto yesterday that
\nthe government only wanted to improve the quality of the State
\nTeachers' Training Colleges (IKIP) across the country and their
\ngraduates.<\/p>\n
He explained that, for the initial, fund-limited stage of the
\nproject, only three colleges will be included.<\/p>\n
The ministry has already received requests from the state
\ncolleges in Malang in East Java, Manado in North Sulawesi,
\nSemarang in Central Java, Yogyakarta, and Padang in West Sumatra
\nto join the project.<\/p>\n
\"No, the government won't disperse IKIP colleges,\" Wardiman
\nsaid. \"The institutions to produce teachers will still exist.\"<\/p>\n
The project will focus on ways to upgrade, for instance, the
\nquality of learning materials for subjects such as economics,
\nEnglish and engineering. Hopefully, the project will help the
\ncolleges' graduates in finding employment, he said.<\/p>\n
Out of the about 43,000 graduates of IKIP colleges annually,
\nonly 25,000 to 26,000 find work, in all fields not just teaching.<\/p>\n
\"It's true that those who don't teach will eventually find
\nother fields of work, but we still think it necessary to improve
\ntheir skills,\" Wardiman said.<\/p>\n
Courses at the colleges usually take four years to complete,
\nwhile universities provide longer periods of learning, more
\nsubjects and research and development opportunities.<\/p>\n
Director General for Higher Education Bambang Soehendro told
\nreporters earlier this month that the program is expected to
\ncommence within four to five years.<\/p>\n
Bambang also said that negotiations with the World Bank to
\nprovide US$100 million to finance the project are nearing
\ncompletion.<\/p>\n
Wardiman said yesterday that, despite the high demand for
\ntheir graduates, there are too few polytechnics in the country.<\/p>\n
\"Because of the expense of their facilities, only a few
\nprivate universities can afford to establish polytechnics, and
\nthe government is expected to meet the demand,\" Wardiman said.<\/p>\n
The country needs 200 more polytechnics in order to produce
\n75,000 technicians to meet the demand in the next 25 years, he
\nsaid. (31)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-wont-abolish-teachers-colleges-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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