Education in distress

It would be rather odd to remark that on Thursday, May 2, Indonesia marks National Education Day without giving readers at least a sketchy idea of why that day has been chosen to mark the state of education in this country. May 2, 1889, in fact, was the date Suwardi Suryaningrat was born.

Although later in his life he would be known for his populist and nationalist inclinations, Suwardi was born an aristocrat, as his last name indicates, in the Paku Alaman principality of Yogyakarta.

Being of aristocratic parentage, the Dutch colonial administration granted him the opportunity to receive his primary education at an elite Dutch elementary school, and after graduation he attended a school for indigenous doctors. In this circle of budding intellectuals, young Suwardi got his first contact with the nationalist ideas that were beginning to emerge in the then Netherlands East Indies.

Unable to pay the tuition fees, Suwardi left the school and, at the age of 20, started a career working in a number of professions, among others, as a journalist for a number of local newspapers -- a fertile training ground for many youngsters at that time, who were later to emerge as leading figures in the nationalist movement.

Thus began his political career, which eventually led him into exile. Given the choice of where he was to be banished to, Suwardi chose the Netherlands, where he enrolled in a school for teachers. On his return to Indonesia, and after a short stint as a teacher in a private school run by his brother, he founded the Taman Siswa school system and changed his name to Ki Hajar Dewantoro, to cast off both the aristocratic badge he still carried and to declare his chosen profession as a teacher.

In these Taman Siswa schools Suwardi introduced the then novel concept of tut wuri handayani, which is to allow students to develop at their own pace and each according to his own nature with the teacher -- typically called pamong or guide -- watching and leading from behind.

One leading rationale behind all this was to give native Indonesians access to the same opportunities, professionally and socially, that Dutch citizens enjoyed at that time. This was done by carefully watching the quality of the education provided to students at the Taman Siswa schools, which had to be at least equal to that provided at government schools, while at the same time imbuing in the students a sense of values and dignity as Indonesians.

These were all lofty ideas that Indonesia's "father of education" sought to promote. It is certainly sad to say that few of these values are being achieved under our present education system. On the intellectual plane at international contests, Indonesians consistently end on the bottom ranks of the ladder. With regard to creativity, the situation is not much better. Morally and ethically, a serious degree of deterioration exists, as attested by the widespread prevalence of corruption, collusion and nepotism and the ease with which people take other people's lives.

Clearly, something must be done without losing too much time. In the present global environment of fierce competition, Indonesia simply cannot afford to watch the process of deterioration continue unchecked. Indonesians can no longer afford to be complacent about the great strides that were supposedly made during the New Order regime -- an evaluation that was based solely on statistics, such as the number of schools that are built within a certain year and the number of students admitted.

The authorities in charge of education should listen to criticism that there is too much educational material being forced on our students. If this country is to progress and be able to compete internationally, school curriculums must be trimmed down to include only the most essential subjects so that students can really master those that are taught. It is also well for them to ponder the fact that Malaysia, which not so long ago relied on teachers from Indonesia, has now overtaken this country with regard to education and manpower development. This is not to mention Singapore and other neighbors of Indonesia.

If overpopulation is seen as a hurdle to educational improvement, one might ponder this parallel to President Megawati's recent complaint about food. If China, with more than a billion people, can be self-sufficient in food, why can't Indonesia with a mere 210 million? Similarly, if China can achieve such phenomenal results in terms of education and manpower development, why can't Indonesia?

In short, Indonesia's educational system is in a mess. It is high time for us to stop arguing and start putting it in order. Unless we do this Indonesia might well be pushed further down the ranks of developing nations. And we will only have ourselves to blame if others in the not-too-distant future take advantage of us and our resources.