Demystifying, reinvigorating today's education system

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): Developing appropriate educational programs has long been considered a weakness in Indonesia's school system. This weakness is evident in the fact that each year a large number of high school and college graduates are unable to find jobs. New employment opportunities which do open up often cannot be filled by these graduates because of their inability to meet the necessary requirements.

As we move from an agricultural economy towards an industrial economy, the wrong educational approach could lead to greater unemployment that ultimately could threaten economic and political stability. In 1990, the unofficial unemployment rate was around 35 percent, in 1994 it rose to 41 percent.

In response, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro launched a "link-and-match policy". As I understand, the purpose is to bring schools closer to today's economic realities. High school students, especially vocational school students, must undergo on-the-job-training at an industrial site near their schools to learn both the theoretical and practical sides of a job. They also learn how to adjust to the demands of a real job and how to become a competent worker.

Outside the educational bureaucracy the prevailing opinion regarding this policy is that it has failed to bring about significant changes in the field. Some schools are indeed sufficiently linked to the real world, like the various polytechnic institutions, the MBA institutions and academies for accounting. But these are institutions that from the very beginning have by design been linked to the demands of real life. This is not the case with general education schools, which need to be brought closer to the real world.

We are accustomed to an "idealized and romanticized" view of our education, our schools and our teachers and have not gone far enough to make changes. We still look upon our schools as sacred institutions and regard our teachers as "holy saints". It is this kind of outlook that has obscured our vision and left us unable to meet the real demands of our changing society.

Until we change this outlook we will never be able to change the character of our educational system. To achieve this we must look upon our schools not as sacred institutions, but as a part of our real environment with all its shortcomings and potential for self improvement. We must look upon our teachers as ordinary human beings craving a bit more comfort in life. Do not mislead them into believing that they are "silent heroes" to whom the entire nation will be grateful forever.

Some criticize this kind of rhetoric as an unethical manipulation of a teacher's ego to compensate for our system's inability to provide teachers with adequate salaries. What we must do instead is improve their wages and help them to enrich their knowledge and improve their teaching skills. Only in this way will we be able to make our schools a place where our students can be realistically prepared for the future.

While I'm impressed by the radicality, rationality and loftiness of this argument. I feel that somehow it is not convincing. I agree entirely with the idea of "demystifying" our perception of education, our schools and our teachers. But I do not think that a mere change in our view and attitude will better adjust them to the needs of our developing society. When we have translated our new views and attitudes into pressure then we will be able to change the character of our schools.

Employability, however, is not the only objective of an education. We must also emphasize educational programs that improve creativity, work ethics and a greater understanding of and commitment towards democracy. Education should not sacrifice these other educational objectives in the name of employment.

While we want our students to be employable, they also need to acquire collective and personal value systems that will make them intelligent and responsible citizens. If we accept these educational objectives, at some point in the future we can expect our schools to produce a generation able to restore civility and rid our society of oppression.

A dose of reality in our educational institutions alone will not be enough to guide our students to become responsible and employable members of society. A strong sense of idealism must also be injected. Realism without idealism cannot elevate us to a higher level of longing and aspiring, two conditions necessary for a better and nobler life.

Development is, after all, just another expression of our collective longing for a better and nobler life.