Educational reform

Educational reform

In relation to the present social condition, I would like to
suggest the following:

a. Many people have lost their jobs because of the monetary
crisis and the recent shop burning and looting, which has forced
many businesses to close down. To these people, sending children
to school is quite a burden. Therefore, to help alleviate this
burden, they must be exempted from paying anything in regard to
their children's schooling. Unless this policy is enforced, many
school children will drop out, a phenomenon not only harmful to
human resources development but also contradictory to the spirit
of total reform.

b. It is a public secret that toward the beginning of each new
school year, final examination grades -- known as NEM -- can be
negotiated at certain schools. As this practice obviously exerts
an adverse impact on school children, immediate efforts must be
made to eliminate it.

c. There must no longer be any deduction from teachers' salaries,
and sanctions must be imposed on those still engaged in this
practice. To ensure that teachers can live decently and perform
their tasks properly, their salaries must be raised.

d. The content of the 1994 curriculum must be reviewed. This
curriculum has drawn much criticism from education experts such
as J. Drost and Mochtar Buchori. Most agree that this curriculum
is burdensome to students, with the result that education in this
country is now in a mess and its quality is the lowest in ASEAN.

e. The motto Tut wuri handayani must be made more complete to
read Ing ngarso sung tulodo, ing madyo hambangun karso, tut wuri
handayani, meaning: In front, serving as a model, in the middle,
introducing ideas, at the back, giving positive encouragement.
The spirit drawn from this motto, the legacy of the late Ki Hajar
Dewantoro, freedom fighter, education scholar and founder of
Taman Siswa Educational Institution, must be inculcated in the
minds of pupils so that they will later grow into adults useful
to the nation and the country.

f. As it is impossible for the minister of education and culture
to carry out all the above alone, associations such as the
teachers association and the parents and teachers association
must be consolidated so that they perform their function in the
interest of pupils, pupils' parents, teachers in particular and
the education circles in Indonesia in general.

BASUKI

Bekasi, West Java