Conny Semiawan, the true teacher

Conny Semiawan, the true teacher

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

Listening is important, but too much emphasis on listening and
not enough practical experience can have a negative effect on the
behavioral development of children.

Education expert and professor at Jakarta State University
Conny Riouwskina Semiawan Stamboel says, without interaction,
"students become passive, there is nothing to stimulate their
curiosity."

The poor education system here has much to do with the lack of
funds and the lack of professional teachers. According to Conny,
less than 40 percent of elementary school teachers in the country
are actually qualified.

It would be a mistake to assume that such problems are
confined to regional areas. There are also a large number of
unqualified teachers in the capital.

"There is even a gap in the quality of schools in South
Jakarta and those in North Jakarta," she said.

Conny will receive the Hamengubuwono IX Award at Yogyakarta's
Gadjah Mada University on Dec. 19, to mark the university's 54th
anniversary. Former minister of the environment Emil Salim will
also be a recipient of the award.
While her list of accomplishments is long and the award seems
well-earned, Conny prefers to stay out of the limelight. She is a
reluctant interviewee and says she is happy about the award, but
for the sake of her institute only.
She was formerly rector of the Jakarta Teachers Training
Institute (IKIP) (now Jakarta State University) from 1984 to
1992, after which she held a number of important positions: She
was a member of the National Accreditation Board of Higher
Education (1992-2003); head of the Commission of the Education
Science Discipline at the Ministry of National Education (1999-
2002); and a consultant with the World Bank's project for the
education of elementary school teachers (1992-1999)

Conny is an emeritus professor, but teaches post-graduate
students at the Jakarta State University, the University of
Indonesia and the Trisakti University. She is also an active
member of many organizations, including the National Research
Institute and the Indonesian Music Foundation.

"I like playing piano. I love classical music, Beethoven,
Schubert, Chopin.," said Conny, once a piano teacher too.

Born in 1930 in the town of Madiun, East Java, she was taught
to play the piano by her mother, who also taught her French. Her
father, M. Stamboel, was a respected doctor and a health official
during the Dutch colonial era. He took an active part in the
establishment of Boedi Oetomo youth organization (a pioneer
organization that led the political struggle against the ruling
colonial administration).

Conny went to a Dutch elementary school. But before she had
completed her education there, the Japanese took power. The
school was closed down and she was enrolled at Sekolah Rakyat
(literally the people's school). Most of the students there were
poor.

"I went to school wearing shoes and dressed neatly with a
ribbon in my hair, while many of the other students were barefoot
and had fleas in their hair. They teased me, saying that I was a
Dutch girl who had tried to become like the Javanese," Conny, the
youngest of five siblings, recalled.

The little girl returned home crying, but her father told her
that she should try to understand the situation.

"He told me that the people now had a chance to go to school
and to move forward. He told me about the concept of education
for all. And at the age of 11, I became 'mature'," Conny said.

Her father's words remain vivid even in adulthood. In a way he
had influenced her future career.

"When I was still a little girl, I played at being a teacher.
After school I was the teacher, my housemaids the students. I
taught them to read and to write," said Connie, adding that she
learned how to teach from her mother.

Connie graduated from the school of education, University of
Indonesia, in 1962 and got her masters degree in rehabilitation
counseling from IKIP Jakarta, in 1978.

She did not study overseas because she wanted to be with her
children.

"I couldn't do that. I have seven children," she said, adding
that she breast-fed all of them, even though she was busy
teaching.

In 1975, when her youngest child was five years old, she
accepted the Dutch government's invitation to study there for a
few months. The following year, USAID gave her the chance to take
a short-course in guidance counseling.

Educating children is Conny's passion. In the 1950s, she
helped establish 11 kindergartens in Bandung, West Java. From
1967 to 1977 she was the driving force behind the establishment
of a special school for disabled children in Medan, North
Sumatra.

She is also concerned about the way in which gifted children
are educated here. Many highly intelligent or talented children
become underachievers, she says, as their teachers do not know
how to deal with them.

As a mother and an educator, Conny is well aware of the
importance of sex education. In 1989 she co-edited the
controversial Adik Baru (New Sibling), a book to explain sex to
children. The book was banned here, despite its relatively
standard content.

Times have changed, there is more freedom of expression, but
the ban remains. But for her own reasons Conny chooses not to
comment on the book.