Education budget to blame

Education budget to blame

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
has revealed that Indonesia has been outclassed in math and
science by a neighboring country, Singapore which topped the
study in mathematics and was second only to Taiwan in science
(The Jakarta Post, Dec. 7, 2000).

This news should serve as a warning to the government and
educators concerning the handling of policies and strategies in
education and the teaching of those two vital subjects in this
country.

Allow me to comment on this matter from nonmathematical or
scientific points of view. In my opinion such a low achievement
has to do with how the government allocates the education budget,
which is far from adequate considering the huge number of people
needing education.

I would like to appeal to the government to reserve a budget
substantial enough to fight the number one enemy: poor education
that frequently leads to poverty, ignorance and even
disintegration.

To the fellow teachers of math and science I cordially suggest
that they shift their teaching paradigm, from using the
transmission model to using the transaction and transformation
models. The latter are more humanistic and may uplift students to
a higher level. We should treat students as a subject rather than
as an object in the teaching-learning process. Please note that
as long as learning does not take place in a stress free
atmosphere, only small learning achievements can be achieved.

Furthermore, master strategies of learning require both
teaching the subjects, and the way to learn them, being
emphasized in schools. Remember that the empires of the future
will be the empires of the wind (Sir Winston Churchill).

ODO FADLOELI

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