'Education quality must improve'

'Education quality must improve'

YOGYAKARTA: Minister of National Education A. Malik Fajar said
on Tuesday that the quality of national education must be
improved substantially to help the country catch up with the
latest scientific and technological developments.

The minister's statement was read out by Director General for
Basic and Secondary Education Indra Jati Sidi at the National
Conference of the National Vocational Training Council (MPKN).

Malik Fajar quoted the Human Development Index report as
saying that in terms of educational quality, Indonesia was ranked
102nd out of 106 countries all over the world.

Based on the Human Development Index, Indonesia is even below
of Vietnam, he said.

Given this, he stressed the need to improve the quality of
national education, along with its relevance to daily life.

Malik stressed that qualified and professional human resources
were needed to help the country cope with the challenges of
global competition.

He said it was necessary to include businessmen and
industrialists in discussing improvements to the quality of
national education. - Antara