Ministry sets elementary math texbooks for all schools<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government is requiring all elementary schools across the
\ncountry to use mathematics textbooks that have been pre-selected
\nby the education ministry, saying the quality of national
\neducation must be standardized.<\/p>\n
Indra Djati Sidi, Director General for Elementary and
\nIntermediate Education at the Ministry of National Education,
\ntold reporters here on Wednesday that a set of textbooks had been
\nchosen by the ministry from 28 textbook sets submitted for
\nscreening. The screening also included experts from the
\nUniversity of Indonesia (UI), the Bandung Institute of Technology
\n(ITB) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).<\/p>\n
One set of textbooks consists of six to 12 books for
\nelementary-level education, and will be published by eight
\ndifferent publishers.<\/p>\n
He said the books met the criteria for elementary education in
\nterms of material, presentation, language, readability and
\ngraphics.<\/p>\n
He did not spell out the standard criteria for elementary-
\nlevel mathematics textbooks.<\/p>\n
Indra said schools could decide which books from the set they
\nwanted to use, but schools that did not choose from the eight
\nrequired textbooks would be sanctioned. He did not go into
\ndetails.<\/p>\n
It was not made clear whether the elementary schools -- of
\nwhich there are almost 150,000 nationwide -- would be given a
\nchance to peruse the textbooks before making their selection.<\/p>\n
The books, said Indra, would be distributed free of charge to
\nelementary students, with priority given to underprivileged
\nstudents. There are currently 30 million elementary school
\nstudents across the country.<\/p>\n
Indra said his office would standardize more subjects next
\nyear.<\/p>\n
\"This year, we could only standardize mathematics textbooks,
\ndue to the limited budget,\" he said. The government has allocated
\nRp 150 billion for the project.<\/p>\n
In 1999, the Directorate of Elementary and Intermediate
\nEducation, also under Indra, screened and passed one set of
\nEnglish textbooks for junior high schools.<\/p>\n
The books, printed using loans from the World Bank, were later
\nfound to contain fundamental errors, which prompted the
\ngovernment to withdraw them from schools.<\/p>\n
The cost of withdrawing the English textbooks were provided by
\nthe World Bank, as a separate expenditure from the initial loans.<\/p>\n
Indra said the screening process involved independent and
\nprofessional mathematics experts from both state and private
\nuniversities as well as individuals.<\/p>\n
He said books that failed the screening process were lacking
\nin concept, relevance between graphics and text and readability.<\/p>\n
The screening evaluates textbooks according to the following
\ncriteria: 40 percent for substance, 30 percent for presentation
\nand learning methods, 15 percent for readability and 15 percent
\nfor graphics.<\/p>",
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