Deconstructing RI's impressive literacy rate

Deconstructing RI's impressive literacy rate

Indonesia celebrates International Literacy Day on Tuesday,
with figures suggesting that significant progress has been
achieved in this field. Ignas Kleden takes a deeper look at the
figures.

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Minister of Education and Culture
Wardiman Djojonegoro proudly told a television interviewer Monday
that Indonesia's illiteracy rate has been significantly reduced.

Only 13 percent, or less than 25 million, of Indonesia's 195
million people need to be taught to read and write.

The figure is quite impressive. Now let us examine what this
figure implies, or rather, conceals.

For the purpose of this discussion let me differentiate the
three types of literacy.

First, there are those who are technically literate, but
functionally and culturally illiterate. These people have been
trained to read and write, but due to a lack of reading material
they have no opportunity to practice their reading ability, let
alone their writing skills. They are technically literate, but
their literacy has no function in their everyday life and they
are practically illiterate.

Second, those who are technically and functionally literate
but culturally illiterate. These are people who are able to read
and write, and use their reading ability to obtain necessary
information, but are unaccustomed to communicating and expressing
themselves in writing.

There are a lot of people who read newspapers to look for
employment, to find information they need, and perhaps amuse
themselves with some news and short stories. What is lacking
however, is the habit and the need to read and write. This is
discernible in the number of letters one writes in a year, or the
need to document one's life experiences in written form, or the
amount of money one spends on new books in one month.

Third, those who are technically, functionally and culturally
literate. These are people for whom the need for oral expression
and oral communication is no greater than the need for written
communication and written expression. One of the essential
differences between talking and writing is that the first is
spontaneous, fleeting, temporary and dependent upon
gesticulation, whereas the second takes more thought and is
stable, permanent and autonomous.

Writing takes more thought because there is no immediate
communication between reader and author, which would otherwise
enable discussion to clarify possible misunderstanding. It is
also autonomous because the text speaks for itself.

The personal diary of the late Ahmad Wahib, for example, which
contained his philosophical meditations and theological
reflections, turned out to become a subject of theological and
political discussion among Indonesian intellectuals.

We can safely assume that, had the young Moslem intellectual
known that his diary would be published, read and publicly
discussed, he would have composed it differently. His writings
are now discussed in a way that the author probably never would
have imagined.

I would argue that in Indonesia's case, the main achievement
attained so far is the introduction and the dissemination of
technical and functional literacy.

Children have to read school books as a function in education.
Likewise, bookkeepers keep written records of their companies'
incomes and expenditures. An engineer who has to build a new
engine needs to read the instruction book in order to know the
construction of the engine concerned. Reading and writing are a
function one has to perform in order to attain one's particular
goal.

Cultural literacy in Indonesia, however, is quite
underdeveloped. The number of book titles published in Indonesia
annually is pronouncedly miserable. Figures which have been
published by newspapers are: an average of 2,400 titles per year
in Indonesia, 4,000 in Malaysia, 8,000 in Thailand, 7,500 in
Australia, 43,000 in South Korea and 44,000 in Japan (Kompas, May
18, 1995).

The reading habits of the huge population of Indonesia are
even poorer when one considers that less than 5,000 copies of a
title is sold each year.

One can only hope there are more readers of each book than
there are actual buyers. The usual ratio for a newspaper is 10 to
1 (one newspaper is read by 10 people).

This ratio, however, is not applicable to books for a variety
of reasons. In academe, books are differentiated into three
categories: required, recommended, and general knowledge.

In order for books to become part of general knowledge, there
should be a high rate of cultural literacy. This type of literacy
is not yet reflected in the 13 percent illiteracy rate, a rate we
are so happy to accept.

The writer is a sociologist working with the SPES Research
Foundation, Jakarta.