Poor education, poor future<\/p>\n
By Nirwan Idrus<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Performance of Indonesian students has been
\nfront-page news. Ranking fifth from the bottom in maths and
\nseventh from the bottom in science at the Third International
\nMathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) survey is nothing to write
\nhome about. Mochtar Buchori in an interview with The Jakarta Post
\nhas given a no-nonsense assessment.<\/p>\n
The Post editorial also reiterated quite a number of points
\nthat have been said by others over the last two or so years.
\nHowever none of the things said in the media about Indonesian
\neducation appears to have been read by anybody in the Ministry of
\nNational Education.<\/p>\n
One is increasingly convinced that neither the minister nor
\nhis officials are concerned about the portfolio they are in
\ncharge of. The reader would note that the comments from the
\nminister on the poor show of Indonesian students in maths and
\nscience, was only that the education budget has been increased by
\na couple of percent. Another evidence of his missing the point.<\/p>\n
As the editorial showed, money is only one of the ingredients
\nfor a system, but certainly is not a sufficient condition. We
\nalso all know what happens to money going into government
\ndepartments. It is no secret that only a small percentage finally
\ngoes to the deserved recipients. Thus, an increase in budget does
\nnot guarantee any improvement of the system or disbursement to
\nthe people who need them.<\/p>\n
If we look back at the TIMSS results, we must not forget that
\nSingapore did not get to where it is, simply by lazying around
\nand hoping things will go the way one wants them to.<\/p>\n
The government gives the lead, the ministry prepares the way,
\nand the people are informed and involved in all the hard work
\nthat must be carried out.<\/p>\n
It is all hard work. There must be a good and realistic
\nvision, mission and plan, plus a workable and working monitoring
\nand review system -- all the things that appear to be absent from
\nour education system, especially the latter.<\/p>\n
An engineering professor from the Bandung Institute of
\nTechnology once said that Indonesian engineers are actually
\nsecond-class citizens in their own country. Engineers from
\nneighboring countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and even
\nBangladesh occupy more senior positions in Indonesia than local
\nengineers with similar qualifications.<\/p>\n
Note that without being ethnically insensitive, the above
\ncomparison was only against neighboring countries in Asia. By
\nextrapolation, one can imagine what sort of position our
\nengineers would occupy when compared to engineers from developed
\ncountries (which now include Singapore!).<\/p>\n
There has also been an incessant series of complaints, from
\nprofessors in universities overseas who have had to supervise
\nIndonesian postgraduate students, ranging from the students'
\ninability to use the library to failure to understand basic
\nconcepts.<\/p>\n
When one is told that a lot of these postgraduate students are
\nlecturers in Indonesian state universities, one inevitably would
\nask the question of what quality of teaching do these people
\nprovide their students at their universities?<\/p>\n
Herein lies a further enigma. It is the experience of many
\npeople that many faculty staff at state universities do not spend
\ntheir time at their universities commensurate with their
\nappointments. Many are missing from their lectures and are
\nreplaced by senior students.<\/p>\n
Many have three or four other full-time positions elsewhere in
\nvarious \"projects\". Consequently they do not put any full time
\neffort to any of their multiple jobs. The excuse given has always
\nbeen that their salaries are not enough to feed them and their
\nfamilies.<\/p>\n
But how do they explain that a lot of these \"poor\" lecturers
\ndrive the latest models of Mercedeses, BMWs and Peugeots?<\/p>\n
No wonder our graduates are second-class citizens in their own
\ncountry!<\/p>\n
What is also tragic of course, is the quality of consultation
\ngiven by these graduates and their teachers. In addition to the
\ninadequate time they have because they have four or five full-
\ntime jobs, quite of great concern also is their practical
\nindustrial experience or lack thereof. This in turn contributes
\nto the poor quality of their advice to the industry that consults
\nthem. The impact on the industry will obviously be negative.
\nThese industries will then become second-class citizens again
\njust like our graduates.<\/p>\n
A poor education system will produce poor results in all
\nfacets of the country's endeavor. One can find other examples as
\nwell, all of which point to the same debilitating direction for
\nthe country. Obviously, this is not a new discovery.<\/p>\n
Nobody is saying that the problem is easy to resolve. But we
\nhave cracked through the New Order eggshell now for almost four
\nyears, long enough time for education ministers and the
\nbureaucracy to pull their fingers out and do something. Four
\nyears is the average period for a university student to graduate.<\/p>\n
Hence, since the \"reform movement\" we have already produced or
\nalready about to produce one generation of graduates. Should we
\nwait for another lost generation of graduates or more before the
\nMinistry of National Education starts to do something?<\/p>\n
When one asks the type of question above, the retort is
\nalways, \"If you're so smart, tell us what should be done\".
\nMochtar Buchori has given more than a hint, in addition to this
\nwriter's earlier articles.<\/p>\n
The poor showing of Indonesian students at TIMSS is only a
\nsmall tip of a dinosaur-like iceberg. It is a symptom of a
\nchronic and cancerous malady and a serious indictment of our
\neducation system. Even the previous minister of education, Juwono
\nSudarsono, as long ago as August 1999, said that Indonesia's
\neducation system needs a revolution. Is anybody listening?<\/p>\n
The writer is an international higher education quality
\nconsultant, currently president \/ executive director of IPMI
\nGraduate School of Business in Jakarta (nirwan@ipmimba.ac.id).<\/p>",
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