1,000 educators gather for national meeting

1,000 educators gather for national meeting

By Santi WE Soekanto

UJUNGPANDANG (JP): Some 1,000 educators will gather today for the third national conference on education, with this year's focus on ways to adjust Indonesia's programs to the demands of globalization.

The first convention in 1988 in Bandung drafted an education law, while the second in 1992 in Medan, North Sumatra, discussed how to implement the law. The theme of the current convention is educating Indonesians to meet the challenges of global free trade in 2020.

A brief look at the programs, however, reveals more of an interest in closing the existing local education gaps. Some will speak on ways to help students cope with industrialization, others will talk about how geographically remote places in the archipelago prevent children from getting proper educations.

Noted computer experts and other scientists such as Dali S. Naga, Iskandar Alisyahbana, Alwi Dahlan, Sri Hardjoko, Arief S. Sadiman and Tina Mariani will discuss the use of the Internet and multimedia computers in education. Several will address the problem of poor children with learning opportunities.

In addition, participants will evaluate the progress of Indonesia's education system during the past 50 years after independence. "We wish to critically analyze our experience in education development," one of the organizers, Anah Suhaenah Suparno, told the press last week.

The event spans a wide range of topics because, she said, "there's no way we can speak about education without bringing in other issues as well".

Anah's colleague, Hafid Abass, said that despite the numerous issues handled, the convention is expected to come up with some practical recommendations. The head of the research and development center at the Jakarta Teachers Training and Education Institute (IKIP) expressed hope that the many topics will not sidetrack participants from the goal of producing workable plans.

Anah, who is also rector of the Jakarta Teachers Training College, added that the event is meant to draw the attention of policy makers to the need of a greater budget for education.

Citing a World Bank study, she said that countries which have recorded rapid economic progress are also those which have invested heavily in education.

According to 1991 statistics, some 24.4 million Indonesian children between the ages of 6 and 11 are enrolled, while the drop-out rate before grade four is 12 percent. The number of illiterates, 20.9 million in 1990 with 60 percent of these in the over-45 age bracket, is reportedly on the decline.

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro will open the meeting on behalf of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas. At least 50 main papers from local speakers and ten others from guest speakers from Malaysia and Singapore will be discussed in the convention.

Wardiman, who since his 1993 appointment to the cabinet has been trumpeting his "link and match" concept focusing on the need to adjust the content of education to the demands of the industrial world, will also explain his views on education development for 2020.