Quest for education with international standards<\/p>\n
By Mochtar Buchori<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): During a number of seminars on education I
\nattended recently, one question kept cropping up: Can we achieve
\neducation with international standards through our present
\nnational curricular?<\/p>\n
Whether the discussion was about preschool, primary and
\nsecondary levels or higher education, this particular question
\ncontinued to emerge.<\/p>\n
At first I had no clear idea of what was meant by \"education
\nwith international standards\". It is only after a number of
\ndiscussions that I began to understand the meaning of this
\nphrase.<\/p>\n
Generally speaking, this expression has been used to refer to
\nschool education that is capable of leading our students towards
\nexcellence in academic performance. I got the impression that the
\nyardstick used in these discussions was the educational
\nperformance of schools in countries like Australia, New Zealand,
\nSingapore, Japan, the U.S., the UK and Western European
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and the Philippines were only occasionally mentioned,
\nwhile Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea never came up as points
\nof reference. This shows how little we know about educational
\ndevelopments in these countries.<\/p>\n
The general view in these seminars was that our present
\nnational curricular constitutes an obstacle rather than an
\neffective means of achieving academic excellence. This feeling
\nwas especially strong among seminar participants from higher
\neducation.<\/p>\n
This is understandable in view of the fact that it is our
\ninstitutions of higher education that feel the pressure of
\nforeign competition most strongly. They are the ones witnessing
\nthe uphill struggle waged by their graduates facing competition
\nfrom Indonesians who graduate from universities abroad.<\/p>\n
What is it that makes schools in industrially developed
\ncountries look so attractive academically? I am not sure what
\nthose seminar participants meant by \"academic excellence\" but if
\nwe invert the question and ask: \"What is it that makes our
\nschools so unattractive academically?\", then the picture becomes
\nmuch clearer.<\/p>\n
Usually people point out the failure of most schools to guide
\nour students toward competence in languages (both Indonesian and
\nEnglish), sufficiency in science and computer literacy, mastery
\nof history and social studies, conversance in regional and global
\ncurrent affairs, competence in one of the branches of fine arts
\n(music, literature, painting) and an ability to present
\nthemselves in a polite and convincing manner.<\/p>\n
To support their arguments they usually point out the poor
\nperformances of our high school graduates in these fields. Look
\nat their language, they do not even know the difference between
\nsocial and formal Indonesian. Don't talk about their competence
\nin English!<\/p>\n
It is unbelievable, they cannot even read Reader's Digest.
\nWhat about their competence in math, physics, and chemistry? And
\nwhat about their computer literacy? Their knowledge about
\nnational and world history? And the list of complaints go on and
\non.<\/p>\n
I think it is an acceptable argument and it would not be too
\ndifficult to gather evidence in support of these claims. But is
\nit true that the difference between our education system and
\nothers is due only to weaknesses in our curricular? At this point
\nthe allegation becomes less tenable and we must look at other
\nfactors for the underlying causes of the weakness.<\/p>\n
It is indeed true that the national curricular for the various
\nlevels of our education are generally \"overloaded\", giving our
\nstudents not enough spare time to engage themselves in other
\nexercises of equal or even greater educative significance.<\/p>\n
One music teacher complained in one of these seminars that he
\ndoes not know how to cultivate the musical potentials among his
\ntalented students with only one hour a week allotted to music and
\nno time for extracurricular exercises in this field.<\/p>\n
Many language teachers maintain that without time for
\npracticing speech and writing essays, no language teacher can
\nguide his or her students toward an acceptable level of language
\ncompetence.<\/p>\n
It should not be forgotten, however, that the excellence of a
\nstudent's academic performance depends also upon the student's
\nefforts, teacher's competence and the adequacy of academic
\ninfrastructure provided by the school.<\/p>\n
No matter how well curriculum is designed, if students do not
\nexert themselves to the limits of their ability, if teachers fail
\nto provide adequate learning guidance and support and if schools
\ndo not provide teachers and students with the instructional aids
\nneeded to carry out an educational program, then it is quite
\nunrealistic to expect academic achievements of a reasonable
\nquality from the students.<\/p>\n
How can our students acquire appreciable competence in
\nlanguages if neither the teacher nor the school shows them what
\nan appropriate language usage looks like or sounds like? How can
\nstudents accomplish mastery in music if no musical instrument is
\navailable at a school and if the teachers themselves cannot play
\nany musical instruments? How can our students be proficient in
\nphysics and chemistry if there are no decent labs at schools?<\/p>\n
Blaming our curricular alone is not the right way to diagnose
\nthe weaknesses of our present educational system. I am afraid
\nthat if we solely focus our attention on curricular, and do not
\ngive sufficient attention to the other three factors (students,
\nteachers, and academic infrastructure), the time will never come
\nwhen our schools produce graduates who satisfy our expectations
\nand of whom we can feel proud. I am afraid that after we exhaust
\nourselves in debates about our curricular and after new
\ncurricular has been announced and implemented, we will still
\nencounter disappointing performance among our students.<\/p>\n
What then are the essential weaknesses with regard to our
\nstudents, our teachers, and our schools' academic infrastructure?<\/p>\n
I think that the major weakness of our students lies in their
\npoor ethos for learning and in their very limited repertoire of
\nstudying techniques.<\/p>\n
With regard to our teachers the main source of their weakness
\nis their low salary.<\/p>\n
And in relation to the academic infrastructure of our schools,
\nour main weakness is in the limited funds available for
\npurchasing the educational equipment needed and in the lack of
\nfreedom on the part of the school to decide for itself what
\nshould and will be purchased.<\/p>\n
These problems should be addressed simultaneously with the
\nproblem of improving the curricular. Attacking the complex
\nproblem of enhancing the quality of our educational performance,
\nfactor by factor, does not look too promising. In my view this
\nissue of achieving \"education with international standards\" is
\nnot a problem of curriculum, it is a bigger problem. It is a
\nsystemic problem within our schools.<\/p>\n
The writer is an observer of social and cultural affairs.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/quest-for-education-with-international-standards-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }