Minister urges quality improvement in education<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin
\nopened the fourth National Education Convention on Tuesday
\ncalling for improvements in quality and less stress on subjects
\nsuch as ideology and civic affairs.<\/p>\n
\"My main concern now is for a substantial improvement in the
\nquality of elementary and secondary education. The same thing
\ngoes for universities,\" Yahya said after opening the four-day
\nconvention in Hotel Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Yahya said that elementary and secondary education should
\nconcentrate on three main elements, namely morals, writing and
\nreading, as well as basic science such as mathematics.<\/p>\n
\"Elementary and secondary school pupils do not need too many
\nlessons on ideology or civic affairs. They need a dynamic
\ncurriculum that matches their needs and contains lessons that can
\nmake them master basic knowledge and science,\" Yahya said.<\/p>\n
Yahya also said he planned to introduce English lessons to
\nfourth grade elementary students.<\/p>\n
\"But to be frank we don't want to change the curriculum too
\nmuch because it will further burden students and parents as well
\nas teachers and schools. It will cost us extra jobs, too,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The convention has attracted some 800 teachers and educational
\nexperts, including prominent figures such as Juwono Sudarsono,
\nSapadi Djoko Damono, Hasballah M. Saad, Adi Sasono and Winarno
\nSurakhmad.<\/p>\n
\"We expect this event to come up with strong and concrete
\nrecommendations on how to deal with educational problems.<\/p>\n
\"Education must be considered as an important political issue
\nand treated as a national investment,\" said Sutjipto, chairman of
\nthe event and rector of the State University of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Investment<\/p>\n
Education experts said on Monday that the failure of the
\nnational educational system was due to people's misperception of
\neducation as a public service and not as an investment that could
\nyield dividends in the future,<\/p>\n
\"That's why the government only provides 9 percent of the
\nnational budget as every rupiah spent is not expected to be
\nreturned,\" said Ace Suryadi, a researcher at the Ministry of
\nNational Education's Research and Development Department.<\/p>\n
The percentage, he said, was much lower than neighboring
\ncountries like Malaysia and the Philippines which allocate more
\nthan 20 percent of their national budget for education.<\/p>\n
As the result, he added, Indonesia lacked qualified human
\nresources and the country had to spend some US$5 billion to hire
\nforeign employees annually.<\/p>\n
Ace argued that the educational system should be regarded as
\nan economic sector and a productive investment which not only
\nproduced income for the country, but also high quality human
\nresources.<\/p>\n
Therefore, he said, the government should invest as much money
\nas it could and find ways for as much of the capital as possible
\nto be returned.<\/p>\n
Ace said the government had also neglected to develop informal
\neducation, such as courses.<\/p>\n
\"In several countries, two-thirds of the educational budget
\ngoes to informal education, while here, it's the opposite,\" he
\nsaid during a seminar here on educational reform held by the
\nCentre for Strategic and International Studies on Monday.<\/p>\n
Informal education, according to Ace, is very important in
\nproducing vocational training and skilled personnel.<\/p>\n
Education observer Hafid Abbas, who also spoke at the seminar,
\nsaid there should be greater impetus placed on gaining public
\nparticipation and involvement.<\/p>\n
\"The most important thing is to end the discrimination in the
\nsystem,\" he said, pointing to the segregation which occurs
\nbetween rich and poor students through public schools, private
\nschools and Islamic schools (madrasah).<\/p>\n
Hafid also pointed to the case of the prominent Islamic Senior
\nHigh School in Gontor in East Java.<\/p>\n
\"Graduates can't go straight to a non-Islamic or general
\nuniversity. They have to take an accreditation test first,
\nwhereas their diplomas are acceptable in universities in Canada,
\nEurope and the Middle East,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Other speakers also noted the need for the Ministry of
\nNational Education to enroll more qualified people within its
\nranks.<\/p>\n
\"The ministry lacks educational experts. Look at the Ministry
\nof Health -- from the top officials to the lower ones, they are
\nall doctors,\" said M. Surya from the Indonesian Teachers Union
\n(PGRI).(09\/edt)<\/p>",
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