Computer should be taught at schools
Computer should be taught at schools
JAKARTA (JP): Although the government currently has no
immediate plan to include computer lessons in the national school
curriculum, a senior official of the Ministry of Education and
Culture says schools in major urban centers should introduce the
subject as early as primary school levels.
Computer training for school children in large cities is
needed to prepare them for a world in which computers are a part
of everyday life, the Ministry of Education and Culture's
Director of Elementary School Djauzak Ahmad said yesterday.
"At least in large cities, children should be prepared from an
early age to be familiar with computers," Djauzak said addressing
the start of the fourth national computer contest for elementary
students yesterday.
He proposed that schools use the "local content" hours
allocated in the national school curriculum to teach computer.
The mayoralty or the regency administrations decide the
subjects for the "local content" hours for state-run schools. In
Bali, schools use these hours for additional English lessons
given that the population there actively interacts with the
millions of foreign tourists who visit the island.
Some regions chose local dialects to fill in the eight hours
allocated for local content subjects.
Privately run schools, however, are free to decide on their
own local content subjects and some, like the Santa Maria school
in Central Jakarta, has already introduced computer as a subject.
"For schools in Jakarta and other large cities, computer
training would be appropriate," said Djauzak said.
In the past virtually all job vacancy advertisements
stipulated fluency in English as a requirement; nowadays the
ability to operate a computer has been added as the second most
basic requirement for many jobs offers.
Djauzak acknowledged that the introduction of computer as a
subject in the curriculum of urban schools would further widen
the disparity already existing between urban and rural schools.
He said however that students in poorer areas would in time
catch up.
"Some children will get these facilities sooner, and some will
get them later," he said, adding that funds are a great obstacle
to the equal distribution of sophisticated school equipment.
"But we will never make progress if we always think in terms
of exclusivity (of access to technological skills)."
Djauzak also reminded that teachers should be creative and not
depend on technology where access is not yet possible.
The chairman of the Indonesian Association of Computer and
Information Professionals, Safwan Natanagara, said more awareness
is needed in the importance of computer literacy.
"People tend to think of the costs," he said, "But I am sure
many families can now afford it, it's just a matter of whether
they want it."
Djauzak said that as the 1994 curricula for elementary schools
stresses skills in reading, writing and arithmetics, software
should be developed in this direction. There is much software
already developed and marketed by private companies.
The results of the contest, organized by the association and
the Computerkid Learning Center, will be announced on
Friday.(anr)