Streamlined learning load works best<\/p>\n
By Hendra Gunawan<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): It is often said that you can do anything as
\nlong as you have the motivation and the ability to do it. But
\nactually there is another thing you must also have, namely the
\nopportunity. You might have the motivation and the ability to do
\nsomething, but if you do not have the opportunity, you may never
\nget the chance to accomplish it.<\/p>\n
Every child has the motivation and the ability to learn about
\na lot of things, but many of them do not have the opportunity.
\nHere, opportunity can mean time, place, money, facilities,
\nlearning sources, teachers or schools. Thus, for instance, they
\nmight have time and a little money, but not the place, facilities
\nor teachers to help them learn.<\/p>\n
Schools exist to offer an opportunity for children to learn.
\nBut many children cannot afford to go to school. In this case, it
\nis the government's task to make schools affordable to all
\nchildren. The Constitution states clearly that it is the right of
\nevery citizen to have an education. Thus, the government program
\nwajib belajar (obligation to study) should be interpreted as a
\ngovernment obligation to provide free education to children, not
\nan obligation by children to go to school.<\/p>\n
Education is like an investment, not only for students
\nthemselves and their family, but also for the nation. If the
\ngovernment wants to increase individual participation in the
\nnation's development, the government should invest a substantial
\namount of money in the education of the young.<\/p>\n
Developed countries are very much aware of this. They spend a
\nlot of money on education, although some countries like
\nAustralia, for instance, are reducing their budget for higher
\neducation.<\/p>\n
But let us not compare our country with developed ones. One of
\nour neighbors would suffice for a comparison. In 1997, Malaysia
\ninvested US$128 for every child per year for primary education,
\nwhile we invested only $35, according to an article by Maria
\nHartiningsih published in Kompas Nov. 7, 1997. With the crisis,
\nhow much do we now spend on our children's education?<\/p>\n
A low investment in education is already bad news. What makes
\nit worse is how education is run in our country. One of the main
\nproblems is the content of the curriculum, what we teach our
\nstudents. What do our students learn at school? It seems that we
\nwant to teach too much to our students, but what happens is our
\nstudents learn only a little. Furthermore, with the overloaded
\ncurriculum that we have now, we do not give our students the
\nopportunity to learn about learning itself.<\/p>\n
Another problem is the quality of our teachers. It is common
\nknowledge that teacher salaries are very low -- no one can
\nsurvive on it. As a consequence, our best students are unlikely
\nto later become teachers. There are, perhaps, some good teachers
\nrecruited, but since they have to support their family, it is
\nhard to expect them to perform well at school. The victims are
\nthen the students.<\/p>\n
These two problems have an adverse effect on the teaching and
\nlearning process. To make their job easier, teachers choose to do
\nthe learning for their students. To hide their lack of knowledge,
\nteachers conduct classes in such a way that students do not have
\nthe opportunity to ask questions, express ideas or play with an
\nidea because they do not want students to find out what they do
\nnot know.<\/p>\n
In such a situation, students are also discouraged to think
\ndifferently, explore alternatives or discover things by
\nthemselves. In short, students have no autonomy or freedom at
\nschool. They are just treated as the objects of teaching, not the
\nsubjects of learning. Students are deprived of their
\nopportunities to develop their learning abilities.<\/p>\n
This contrasts with the situation in countries where education
\nis taken seriously. In order to make teaching effective, teachers
\nin such countries consciously study how their students learn.
\nThey realize that students should be given more responsibility
\nfor their own learning. Thus, for instance, they encourage
\nstudents to think about what they are learning, how they are
\nlearning it and whether they understand what they are learning.<\/p>\n
So what do we have to do now to improve the quality of our
\neducation? No one objects that teachers must be better
\ncompensated to insure their performance at school. But since we
\nare in the middle of a crisis, the government is unlikely to
\nraise teacher salaries in the near future.<\/p>\n
And we must also be reminded that increasing salaries would
\nnot automatically improve the quality of existing teachers. It
\nwould only raise the chances that we could recruit better
\nteachers in the future. Still, it does not guarantee that the
\nteaching and learning process would be improved.<\/p>\n
What we can do right now is trim the current curriculum. The
\nreason is clear: Even good teachers give up on the current
\ncurriculum because it is just too heavy. It does not matter how
\nmuch you pay teachers because they cannot do much about it. A
\nlean and flexible curriculum is an urgent must. And it does not
\ncost a lot of money.<\/p>\n
If the teaching load is not too heavy, teachers might be
\nexpected to do better. Of course, it would be much more desirable
\nif they were also paid better. But at the present, they still
\nhave to wait for a substantial increase in their salary.<\/p>\n
Let us now hope that the new minister of education and culture
\nwill do something significant to improve national education, and
\nnot just, for example, change the high school acronym SMU to
\nanother one.<\/p>\n
Education should provide students with the opportunity to
\nlearn and develop their learning abilities. This is what should
\nbe focussed on at the moment.<\/p>\n
The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics at
\nthe Bandung Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n
Window: ...students have no autonomy or freedom at school. They
\nare just treated as the objects of teaching, not the subjects of
\nlearning. Students are deprived of their opportunities to develop
\ntheir learning abilities.<\/p>",
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