Lamenting our education<\/p>\n
When Hong Kong-based Asia Magazine printed a list of the best
\nAsian universities last year Indonesians were not offended to
\nfind their institutes of higher learning ranked below those of
\nour neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
Comparing Indonesian education success stories to those of
\nadvanced countries is unfair, but finding Indonesian universities
\nplaced below those of Malaysia, a country which until the 1970s
\nstill sent a lot of students to study various disciplines here,
\nwas quite shocking. The list named the Institute of Technology of
\nBandung as the best school in Indonesia, but it was still far
\nbelow the Kuala Lumpur University of Malaya and was only one
\npoint above the National University of Malaysia. According to the
\nlist, the five best Asian universities are found in Japan, Hong
\nKong and Singapore.<\/p>\n
The answer to this problem might lay in the reality that many
\nof us had been pretending not to notice that something was amiss
\nin our education system because, with the budget held
\nresponsible, there was nothing we could do to address it. How can
\none expect a quality education when lecturers have to moonlight
\nto make the ends meet, some asked.<\/p>\n
While no light was seen at the end of the tunnel, the people
\nrealized that the nation had still to focus its attention on
\neconomic development. So it was nothing remarkable to hear
\ncomplaints about the lack of an academic culture, academic
\nfreedom, scientific productivity, tolerance to academic debate,
\nthe link and match concept, etc. This has all been made worse by
\nthe feudal mentality of many lecturers.<\/p>\n
The proof of low academic quality is still clear in daily
\nlife. Although there are a great number of able academics around
\nus, the poor capability shown by many college graduates to hold
\neven a simple job in the public administration is painful to
\nwitness.<\/p>\n
The authorities seem to have realized the urgency of
\novercoming this problem, which is a decisive part of the nation's
\nfuture, where the competitiveness of our human resources among
\nneighbors will be of vital importance.<\/p>\n
In relation to this, we can fully understand the recent
\ngovernment decision to open the door to foreign universities
\nwishing to operate here, because they will help improve the
\nquality of our institutes of higher learning and their graduates.
\nWe also believe that the green light for the use of English as
\nthe medium to teach up to 50 percent of the subjects in any
\nuniversity, and in the teaching of mathematics and natural
\nsciences at junior and senior high schools, as a far-sighted
\nmeasure.<\/p>\n
Aside from our solid sense of patriotism, we have to admit
\nthat we still need time before our national language is capable
\nof being a language of science and high-technology. Our
\nuniversity graduates starkly reveal their lack of ability to
\nwrite in the national language let alone English.<\/p>\n
Beyond all these points of view, one should bear in mind that
\nthe national education system here is not so simple. A complete
\noverhaul in the way we see the education system is needed. We
\nneed to start from the elementary level because there are too
\nmany burdensome subjects for youngsters along with indoctrination
\nin civic topics which could be replaced with more practical
\nsubjects.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lamenting-our-education-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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