Nation needs talented teachers<\/p>\n
By Iwan Pranoto<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): How bad is our school system?<\/p>\n
It is very bad.<\/p>\n
Our elementary schools are very far from satisfying. It
\nconcentrates too much on forcing students to learn by rote. It
\ndoes not encourage students to learn actively and to think
\ncritically. So, if we believe that a school should be an
\nintellectual environment that teaches students universal values,
\nour elementary schools have failed.<\/p>\n
Our elementary students now merely consist of submissive
\nlisteners. They listen to instructions, memorize the instructions
\nand then do as they are instructed. This alienates them from the
\nprimary function of education, namely to think actively and
\ncritically.<\/p>\n
If you visit an elementary school, you can observe that many
\nmilitary traditions have infiltrated the school's culture. It is
\na very sad situation. The teachers even command our children when
\nto start and stop praying. Moreover, the weekly flag ceremony is
\nreally a military ceremony. When our students read the state
\nideology of Pancasila during a ceremony, they read it as if they
\nwere soldiers receiving commands from their commandant.<\/p>\n
Even most of our kindergartens cannot provide, as they should,
\na fertile climate for children to play and learn. The
\nkindergartens are so busy teaching formal subjects like reading
\nand math, that they cannot teach the children how to write the
\nalphabet. Moreover, one can easily find some kindergartens in
\nJakarta and other cities in Java where they teach English as a
\nsecond language to three and four-year-old children. It may sound
\nunbelievable, but it happens. In addition, some teachers even
\nassign regular homework to these same young children.<\/p>\n
In these types of kindergartens, our children will not have
\ntime to play. They cannot learn things suitable to them, like
\nlearning to communicate with their friends. This situation causes
\nthem to be distanced from the normal activities of young
\nchildren. They do not have the opportunity to be four years old,
\nlet alone to learn universal values.<\/p>\n
Worse still, because there is so much subject material, the
\nstudents cannot learn the material effectively and thoroughly.
\nThey usually take the surface approach to learning. This forces
\nthe students to memorize information needed for assessments,
\nrather than accomplishing real learning. This also causes
\nstudents to fail to integrate diverse elements. In the end, this
\nmeans that their basic knowledge and ability to learn are
\ninsufficient.<\/p>\n
This insufficiency will continue to cause problems throughout
\nthe students' educations. When the students are in high school,
\nthe insufficiency of their learning abilities prevents them from
\nbecoming actively involved in the learning process. This
\nsituation is likely to contribute to the misperception that
\nlearning is the same as memorization.<\/p>\n
University lecturers see this insufficiency carried all the
\nway to the university level. For this, and other reasons, our
\nuniversities are inefficient.<\/p>\n
We can see that, in general, our elementary schools and high
\nschools have fundamental problems. These problems cause the
\nfailure of our schools to provide a quality education for our
\nstudents. In particular, students cannot improve their learning
\nabilities, and they are alienated to the basic traditions of
\nactive and critical thinking. This situation makes them unable to
\nlearn universal norms, making them misfits in society. It is a
\nvery unfortunate situation.<\/p>\n
Now, how can we solve these problems?<\/p>\n
Catholic priest and writer Y.B. Mangunwijaya suggests that we
\nstart from the lowest level. He means that we must concentrate on
\nthose children now studying in elementary school. His reasoning
\nis that we must begin with the students who have not yet been
\ncontaminated.<\/p>\n
His argument sounds reasonable, but I think it is not enough.
\nWe can solve these problems more strategically by also improving
\nthe quality of the schoolteachers.<\/p>\n
We have learned that the problems stated above are mostly due
\nto the low quality of our teachers. According to Abdul Hasim, in
\n1995\/1996 there were 2.17 million schoolteachers, but only 27
\npercent of them were qualified. In general, the quality of the
\nteachers is low because they do not have the ability, talent or
\nmotivation to teach.<\/p>\n
Also, because some teachers have not been enlightened about
\nthe teaching profession, they merely follow the curriculum as is.
\nThey apply the curriculum as if it were a "cookbook". Because of
\ntheir lack of teaching ability, they are unable to design lesson
\nplans actualizing the curriculum in creative ways. In fact, the
\nlesson plans, in my opinion, are more important than the
\ncurriculum itself.<\/p>\n
Also, the inadequate number of teachers available aggravates
\nthe problem. This inadequacy increases the schoolteachers' work
\nload. The student to teacher ratio must be lowered to alleviate
\nthis problem. For example, in many elementary schools the ratio
\nis around one teacher to 60 students. Ideally, the ratio should
\nbe closer to 30 students for every teacher. Moreover, our
\nschoolteachers usually have to moonlight to supplement their
\nincredibly low salaries, thus increasing their already too large
\nwork load.<\/p>\n
This means that we have to increase the number of
\nschoolteachers, but this is not an easy task. In theory, a
\nsociety believes that service to others determines the rank and
\nprestige of an occupation. However, we have never actually placed
\nteaching anywhere near the top of the occupational pyramid.<\/p>\n
Teaching is not an attractive occupation in this society. If
\nwe compare teaching to other occupations which require college
\npreparation, we see that the salary is very low.<\/p>\n
The perception of teaching is so bad that many people in
\nIndonesia make jokes about the profession. One joke goes that one
\nday a mother found that her daughter did not study hard enough
\nfor a school test. After advising her daughter to study harder,
\nshe scared her by saying, "If you do not study hard, you will be
\nmarried to a teacher".<\/p>\n
Thus, if we want to fix the problems of our educational
\nsystem, we have to improve the quality and the quantity of our
\nschoolteachers. We must achieve a state in the future where each
\nclassroom has at least one talented, competent and dedicated
\nteacher.<\/p>\n
One way to achieve this is by involving universities in
\nnurturing talented schoolteachers. By improving the quality of
\nour schoolteachers, we directly improve the learning process of
\nour students. In addition, we can open up the opportunity for
\nuniversity graduates to become schoolteachers. This will also
\nhelp to alleviate the terrible unemployment problem facing
\nIndonesia. In 1997 alone, about 200,000 new university graduates
\ncould not find jobs.<\/p>\n
Of course, everyone has a role to play in improving the
\nquality of our classrooms. The government and society must
\nbecome actively involved to achieve this improvement.<\/p>\n
The government's first task is to improve the economic lot of
\nschoolteachers. The government has to create an assignment system
\nand a salary scheme for schoolteachers independent of the general
\ncivil servant system. If we believe that education is at the top
\nof our priority list, this independent system is necessary.<\/p>\n
Secondly, the government, together with educators, must make
\nmore efforts to attract talented young people to the teaching
\nprofession.<\/p>\n
Thirdly, the Directorate General of Basic Education and the
\nDirectorate General of Higher Education need to discuss ways to
\nimprove the process of teacher preparation. They must reinvent
\nthe teacher's educational and training systems, so that the
\nteachers can provide a quality learning process for their
\nstudents. Specifically, the schoolteachers have to master the
\nbasic sciences (mathematics, chemistry and physics) and
\nunderstand the basic theories of learning.<\/p>\n
Lastly, the Directorate General of Basic Education must
\npromote a system of hiring and firing for schoolteachers. On one
\nhand, the system has to enable every talented graduate to be
\neasily hired as a schoolteacher. If this is possible, the system
\nwill provide rewards for talented teachers. On the other hand,
\nthe system must be allowed to fire every schoolteacher who does
\nnot measure up. By doing so, the competition in the profession
\nwill be healthy, and this climate will improve the quality of
\neducation.<\/p>\n
At the same time, members of society have to start
\nrepositioning the social status of schoolteachers. Teaching, in
\nparticular teaching elementary school, should be near the top of
\nthe occupational pyramid. This is not an easy task, but we have
\nto go in that direction.<\/p>\n
The writer is a math teacher living in Bandung.<\/p>\n
Window: In theory, a society believes that service to others
\ndetermines the rank and prestige of an occupation. However, we
\nhave never actually placed teaching anywhere near the top of
\nthe occupational pyramid.<\/p>",
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