Education Minister: Textbook Renewal Long-Planned, to Strengthen STEM Values
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Primary and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu’ti has confirmed that the renewal of textbooks has been planned for some time and is intended, among other things, to increase STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) content.
“Before there was a directive from the President, there was already planning to rewrite the textbooks that have been in use,” said Abdul Mu’ti after the Government’s Introductory Statement on the Draft Law on the 2027 State Budget and its Financial Note by President Prabowo Subianto at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta on Friday.
He then revealed several considerations behind the plan to rewrite textbooks for school students by his ministry.
The first consideration is to ensure that students’ textbooks will contain stronger educational values, character education, and STEM content.
“The emphasis on STEM is in accordance with the President’s directive,” he stressed.
The next consideration, he said, is to accommodate changes in the content standards for textbooks determined by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
The rewriting is also being carried out so that textbooks are increasingly aligned with the concept of deep learning, said the Minister.
Regarding implementation, Abdul Mu’ti confirmed that the process has already begun.
“The evaluation of the books is already underway and several books are ready to be printed,” he said.
Previously, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said the government continues to refine the national textbook renewal measures as an effort to strengthen the foundation of education and human resources.
In his statement in Jakarta on Friday (7/8), Teddy said the evaluation originated from President Prabowo Subianto’s findings when directly reviewing textbooks in several schools.
President Prabowo, Teddy said, assessed that there are still various aspects that need improvement, both in terms of content and the physical quality of the books.
“When checking the textbooks, he looked at them one by one, and found that some materials were easily damaged, some were already damaged, and the writing was very small, so primary school children in particular had to read very closely. Then, when read, it was not very good, so on that basis, he wanted to check all the books from primary to senior secondary school,” he said.
According to Teddy, after studying the textbooks used in Indonesia, the President then instructed that comparisons be made with textbooks from neighbouring countries as an evaluation to improve the quality of national textbooks.