Drost, still thinker in education

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At first glance, the old man looks too weak to walk steadily on his two legs. But, don't underestimate him. He will turn like a roaring lion, speaking loudly with strong zeal and straightforward statements. That is if you ask him about education.

Meet Drost - a Jesuit priest whose full name is Joshepus Ignatius Gerardus Maria Drost.

Drost who was born in Batavia, now Jakarta, on Aug. 1, 1925, is one of the most outspoken thinkers on education for middle schools in Indonesia.

He has written many books on education and articles for the mass media.

"What I have written is deeply rooted from my (more than) 10 years of hands-on experience in the field of education, especially as a high school teacher," Drost said.

None will doubt the knowledge and mastery of the man who now lives at the tranquil retreat house Wisma Samadi in Klender, East Jakarta.

Some say he is hot tempered, which could be attributed to his early upbringing in Bondowoso in East Java, which is stereotyped with people with such a character.

"That's me. Reactive, outspoken, hot tempered, but frank and straightforward. Nothing is concealed," Drost admitted.

It was demonstrated many times during the interview when he digressed from the topic he was explaining to correct mistaken words commonly used in the Indonesian language.

"People here are very sloppy in using incorrect words from bahasa," said Drost.

For instance, the kesenjangan or gap, is derived from senjang, which actually means slide (miring). The correct word for gap, according to Drost, is kerumpangan, from the word rumpang.

Despite his sternness, he seldom punished his students, he said.

"I was rare to punish my students unless they had stubbornly broken the rules," said Drost, who had led Kanisius College high school in Central Jakarta for 10 years before starting at a new high school, Gonzaga College, in South Jakarta, in 1986 before his retirement in 1993.

Drost recalled an experience when a teacher got angry when he saw a suspended student come to school at midday to copy notes of the day's lessons from his friends.

"I said to the teacher 'that's not the way we must teach our students'. And, I ordered the student to attend the classes as normal," Drost said.

Being a teacher is not easy, and being a qualified teacher is more difficult. Therefore, special education for teaching, at least at college level, is needed for those who want to be a good teacher, even for elementary schools, according to Drost.

"Unfortunately, many teachers are not professional," he said.

A successful education system depends not just on the children's capability to absorb the lessons, but more on the qualification of the teachers and also on the teaching materials.

In many cases, parents should be blamed for sending their children to the wrong schools. This is related to Drost's strongly-defended opinion on the differentiation of schools for the clever and for the "not-so clever" students.

Drost believes that general high schools should be for clever students, while whose who are not academically inclined or those who do not plan to continue their studies at college should go to vocational schools.

The problems is, many parents are reluctant to send their children to vocational schools.

"No parents are willing to admit that their children are not smart enough to enter schools meant for the clever," Drost said.

As parents force their children to attend schools designed for the clever, the children, who are not so clever, are overwhelmed and get fed up with their lessons.

"That will only mess up the children's life for the sake of the parents' egoistic craving for social esteem," said Drost.

Drost also lambasted the government for having no courage to fix the current situation for fear of mounting protests from the parents.

Drost is also among the experts on education who protest many attempts by parents or schools to feed the children with too many lessons, including English teaching in elementary schools.

"The elementary school students must be taught the Indonesian language in such a way that the students really masters it. Only if they have a strong lingual basis are they ready to learn even four or five other languages in the next step of their study," Drost asserted.

In 1931 Drost, whose parents were Dutch, joined his family in the Netherlands, where he finished his elementary and high school education. He then continued his study at Universiteit van Amsterdam. However, it was closed by German troops who invaded the country during World War II after Drost had completed just one year.

The young Drost was sent to work at a steel plant somewhere in Germany, but eventually he managed to flee back to the Netherlands.

After World War II he entered the Jesuit novitiate -- a preliminary education to become a priest -- in Mariendaal. In 1948, he was sent by the Jesuit Order as a missionary to Indonesia. He continued his language study in Girisonta, Ungaran, Central Java.

After completing his study in philosophy in 1952, three years after he got his Indonesian citizenship, Drost was sent to learn physics at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in West Java. From Bandung, he moved to Yogyakarta to study theology and later was ordained as Catholic priest. He was a lecturer at the Teachers Training Institute (IKIP) Sanata Dharma in Yogyakarta and became its rector in 1968 until 1976.

Almost 10 years after his direct involvement in the day-to-day operations of high school ended, Drost continues to produce aspiring thoughts on education.

"I'm still asked to share my opinion at seminars, workshops in various forums," said Drost, who participated in the drafting of the 1994 curriculum for schools.

Currently, Drost spends most his time writing articles, books, and also translating. "Besides, I also serve as a retreat director here in Wisma Samadi," he said.