New textbook policy prone to corruption<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Experts warned on Sunday of possible corruption and collusion
\nbetween officials and book publishers following the education
\nministry's decision to require some 150,000 elementary schools
\nacross the country to choose one of eight textbooks it has
\ndesignated.<\/p>\n
Education expert Winarno Surahmat said it was normal if people
\nwere suspicious about the government's decision to designate
\neight textbook publishers out of 28 publishers for the provision
\nof mathematics textbooks.<\/p>\n
\"The government should not force schools to use any books
\ngiven the current policy of school autonomy. It must focus on
\nformulating a good curriculum, and setting the criteria for
\npublishers to produce good books for their students,\" Winarno
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"By requiring all schools to select a book from one of the
\neight appointed book publishers, the government has raised public
\nsuspicions about the possibility of hidden interests being behind
\nits decision,\" he added.<\/p>\n
According to Winarno, there is in fact a large number of local
\nbook publishers that produce and sell poor quality textbooks to
\nschools. Nevertheless, the government should avoid using such a
\ncentralized approach.<\/p>\n
\"It would be better if the government held a writing
\ncompetition for teachers to write high quality textbooks.<\/p>\n
\"The results of this competition could be used as a reference
\nfor schools to selecting the best textbooks for their students,
\nbut not by obliging schools to purchase certain books without
\nclear criteria being applied,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In other countries, he said, the governments only established
\ntextbook standards, and let schools choose the most appropriate
\ntextbook for their students.<\/p>\n
Director General for Elementary and Intermediate Education
\nIndra Djati Sidi said earlier that the government would require
\nall elementary schools to use mathematics textbooks that had been
\nselected by the education ministry.<\/p>\n
The eight appointed publishers were Citra Aji Parama, Ganeca
\nExact, Grafindo Media Pratama, Intan Pariwara, Regina, Remaja
\nRosda Karya, Setia Purna Inves, and Yudhistira.<\/p>\n
The government has argued that the new policy is necessary to
\nensure standardization in national education.<\/p>\n
Besides obliging schools to select one of the eight appointed
\nbook publishers, the government is also requiring schools to
\npurchase the textbook in bookstores.<\/p>\n
This measure, according to the government, would avoid
\nteachers receiving commissions from publishers where the
\ntextbooks are purchased directly from the publishers.<\/p>\n
The government also said the textbooks would be free for
\nstudents, and has allocated a total of Rp 150 billion (US$17.6
\nmillion) for textbook procurement.<\/p>\n
But there is a growing suspicion that the new procurement
\npolicy will only convert the collusion between teachers and
\npublishers to collusion between government officials and
\npublishers.<\/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
Meanwhile, Mochtar Buchori, a member of the House of
\nRepresentatives' education commission, agreed that collusion
\nbetween teachers and publishers in the procurement of textbooks
\nmust be stopped.<\/p>\n
But, he hoped that the new policy would not serve to merely
\nopen up new opportunities for corruption.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-textbook-policy-prone-to-corruption-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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