Education ministry introduces major changes

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of National Education announced on Wednesday its planned sweeping reforms that will include changes to school examinations and the bureaucracy of the institution.

Speaking at a year-end media conference at his office, Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin said that students of elementary and secondary schools would have their essay topics increased to at least 50 percent in their final examinations.

Up to now, students have taken their examinations mostly in the form of multiple choices. The format has been blamed for the students' lack of analytical capability.

All the changes will take effect next year, except for modifications in the subject of history which will only become operational in the next curriculum year beginning in July.

Yahya said present history books would be replaced with supplements that would exclude any interpretation or conclusion by the government, and would provide only historical facts.

Director general of primary and secondary education Indra Djati Sidhi, who also attended the conference, added that the supplements would incorporate the fall of the New Order regime, which was marked by the resignation of then president Soeharto in May last year.

On the curriculum, the ministry will introduce a national standardization which will provide broad guidelines to allow each school to develop its own curriculum.

The national standards will require students to meet certain basic competence levels according to their abilities.

"For example, first grade students of elementary schools should know about numbers, without restricting the school from setting a higher target," Indra said.

Yahya said the national standardization would avoid radical changes to the national curriculum in the future.

On regional autonomy, Yahya said his ministry would continue the past government's policy of empowering both state and private universities in each of the country's provinces.

The pilot project of the autonomy policy is now underway at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, the Bandung Institute of Technology and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture.

Director general of higher level education Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro said the ministry would also speed up the accreditation of universities across the country.

On administrative matters, Yahya said 261 personnel in his ministry, including eight directors dealing with the arts, would be moved to other government institutions.

The ministry has asked for a 35 percent increase in the state budget to allow for a rise in the salaries of teachers. (04)