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.