The future of our children<\/p>\n
Indonesian students rank among the lowest in basic skills
\ncompared to their peers in other countries, according to a
\nrecently published survey of 15-year-olds. The research, which
\ncovered 43 countries on five continents, was conducted by
\nUNESCO's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).<\/p>\n
PISA is a collaborative effort among the participating
\ncountries to measure how well 15-year-olds approaching the end of
\ncompulsory schooling are prepared to meet the challenges of
\ntoday's societies. PISA administers tests and background
\nquestionnaires to between 4,500 and 10,000 students in each
\nparticipating country to assess three forms of literacy: reading,
\nmathematical and scientific. The assessments focus on how well
\nstudents apply knowledge and skills to tasks that are relevant to
\ntheir future life, rather than on the memorization of subject
\nmatter knowledge.<\/p>\n
In reading literacy, well over 50 percent of students surveyed
\nin Indonesia performed at level 1 - the lowest out of five - or
\nbelow. Level 1 represents those students who have serious
\ndifficulties in using reading as a tool to advance and extend
\ntheir knowledge and skills in other areas. Level 5 indicates
\nthose students who are able to manage information that is
\npresented in unfamiliar texts, show detailed understanding of
\ncomplex texts and infer which information is relevant to the
\ntask, and critically evaluate and build hypotheses with the
\ncapacity to draw on specialized knowledge and concepts that may
\nbe contrary to expectations. The lowest results were scored in
\nAlbania, Indonesia and Peru.<\/p>\n
As with reading literacy, Indonesian students similarly
\nperform at the lowest level in the mathematical as well as the
\nscientific literacy. They are weak at mathematics in terms of its
\nrelation to its use in people's lives, in using mathematical
\nknowledge and procedures to solve problems, in formulating and
\ncommunicating the outcomes, and in other aspects of mathematics.
\nThe lowest performers are Indonesia, Brazil and Peru.<\/p>\n
They are weak at scientific literacy in terms of using
\nscientific knowledge, recognizing scientific questions, and in
\nother aspects of scientific literacy, including in communicating
\nthese aspects of science. In these respects too, Indonesian
\nstudents fall in the category of the worst performing countries,
\nabove only Albania, Brazil and Peru.<\/p>\n
Are Indonesian students really weak in all those basic skills?
\nIt must be wrong to draw that conclusion if we really look into
\nthe factors associated with student's literacy proficiency,
\nincluding student engagement in the learning process in Indonesia
\nas compared to other countries participating in this program.<\/p>\n
What Indonesia should do is to assess the strengths and
\nweaknesses of our education system in the perspective of other
\ncountries' performance. Indonesia should look into how it
\nformulates its education policy in seeking to bring about
\nimprovements in schooling and better preparation for young people
\nas they enter an adult life of rapid change and deepening global
\ninterdependence.<\/p>\n
To judge by the deliberations in the House of Representatives,
\nand later the passing of the new law on national education, it is
\nobvious that preparing young Indonesians for the world of
\ntomorrow through education has been less of a concern than the
\npolitical interests of the Indonesian elite toward next year's
\ngeneral election.<\/p>\n
With its convoluted structure of thinking, the House passed
\nthe national law on education that will give Indonesian schools
\nand teachers the impossible task of transforming Indonesian
\nstudents into perfect human beings. The House is not concerned
\nwith the basic skills needed by the young generation to prepare
\nthemselves for an entirely different adult life that their older
\ngenerations faced. The House seems totally disinterested in
\nwhether or not the students will have the capacity to face a
\nharsh and much more competitive world in the future.<\/p>\n
Now, it is left to the schools and teachers themselves, with
\nthe support of the civil society at large, to push for a better
\neducational system that would equip our students with the basic
\nskills to meet the challenges of the future world. If need be,
\nthis must be done by working against the mainstream of the
\nIndonesian political elite.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-future-of-our-children-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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