Children are our future
Children are our future
An article tucked in the inside page of yesterday's Kompas daily newspaper was hardly surprising, yet it was disturbing nevertheless because it begs us to do something urgent. "Indonesia rated second from bottom in reading and writing scores of primary school pupils", reads the headline. The article picked up the March 29th cover story of the Economist, which looked at the link between education and the wealth of nations. Although the survey was inconclusive on the link, no one doubts that it exists.
The survey showing the poor reading scores of our children confirm what many in our country's publishing industry, from books to newspapers, have long known: Indonesians generally make poor readers, and even worse writers. It is nothing new. But what is most disconcerting about the survey is that this pattern is apparently being inherited by our children.
According to the Kompas article, the survey was taken six years ago by third and fourth graders, between 10 and 11 years old. Indonesia came in 25th out of 26 countries that were listed in the accompanying table. Indonesia came ahead of Venezuela in the survey, in which Trinidad was the only other developing country listed. Neighboring Singapore was the only other Asian country in the survey. The article also ran a result of separate surveys on mathematics and science skills of the same group of students. Indonesia's listing was excluded, apparently because of a misinterpretation about the survey. One can't help wonder whether this was due in part to our own poor reading ability.
It would be easy, and certainly tempting, to dismiss the validity of the survey as an indicator of our competitiveness in education, since other Asian countries were excluded. But we should remember that in this period of increasing economic globalization, every country in every corner of the world is a competitor. In our world, geography does not inhibit the movement of goods, people and capital. The survey, in spite of its imperfections, is still a fair reflection of where our country stands in the world when it comes to education. In a world that is becoming increasingly more competitive, the survey, as headlined by Kompas, spells a grave problem for the future of our nation.
Head of Research and Development at the Ministry of Education and Culture Srihardjoko Wirjomartono, in the Kompas article, said that Indonesia's education system is already on the right track by focusing in mathematics, science and communications. The chief problem, he maintains, is in implementation, particularly in teachers' skills and teaching facilities.
This however should not prevent us from looking at what other countries are doing at the education front, if we want to progress. We do not really need to look too far. In the survey, Singapore ranked eighth in reading and writing scores, and is top of the class in both mathematics and science scores.
We do not seem to have a shortage of rhetoric about how crucial it is for our nation to strengthen its human resources in facing global competition. This is after all is the theme in the current government's Sixth Five-Year Plan. Unfortunately, we have an extreme shortage of action. The Kompas article, with its suggestive headline, should sink in the message of the gravity of the problem that we are facing. It is also a timely reminder of the time to act now as we mark National Education Day tomorrow, May 2.