'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