Educators place blame but come up short on solutions
Educators place blame but come up short on solutions
By Santi WE Soekanto
UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Poorly qualified teachers
are the main obstacle to improving the education system in
Indonesia, educators taking part in a national congress on
education said yesterday.
H.A.R. Tilaar of the state-owned Teachers Training Institute
(IKIP) in Jakarta told The Jakarta Post that few teacher colleges
are rigorous in their selection of teachers.
"Garbage in, garbage out," said Tilaar. "We take extra care in
selecting the head of a company or even of a university, but we
let just about anybody teach our children.
"How can we expect our children to compete and meet future
challenges if they are taught by people who lack professionalism,
vision?" he asked.
Tilaar, who has been teaching for 45 years and is known for
his sharp criticism of the national education system, cited how
in the 1970s he used to take Indonesian teachers to Malaysia to
help make up for shortages there. Now, he said, Indonesians go to
Malaysia to study from Malaysian teachers.
"Our education is poorly managed," he said. "This is the third
convention, held every four years...and we're still talking about
how to improve the quality of our education."
Tilaar and a number of other educators interviewed by the Post
pointed out a number of flaws in the education system.
I Wayan Ardhana, a professor at IKIP Malang, East Java, said
low teaching salaries dissuade students from taking up the
profession, which more and more people hold in low esteem.
Tilaar agrees. "Teaching salaries should be increased to three
times what they receive now."
Ardhana recalled a few years ago that the government opened a
special school for elementary school teachers to meet a shortage
at the time. Now, he said, more than 7,000 teaching graduates
are looking for work.
"It's really bad planning on the part of the government. Who
wants to be a teacher now?" he said. "Meanwhile, the buildings,
laboratories and facilities at several training institutes go
wasted because no one wants to become a teacher."
In 1992, Indonesia received the United Nations Avicenna Award
for promoting "education for all", including those in remote
areas.
With some 29 million children in primary schools, seven
million in junior high and four million in senior high schools
across the archipelago, quality continues to fall short of
quantity.
Marsetio Donoseputro, a member of the House Commission IX for
education, said the public could not "expect to see substantial
changes or breakthroughs in the management of national
education".
"Not when we talk about financial aspects or control of the
management of education," he said.
Bambang Soehendro, the director general of higher education at
the Ministry of Education, blamed poor coordination of the
government agencies in charge of education.
Weaknesses can be spotted throughout the whole system, from
the production of teachers to recruitment and placement, he said.
Sri Hardjoko, the head of the ministry's center for research
and development, said the government has made efforts to improve
quality of education.
"We send teachers to courses, improve facilities, provide
books, revise curriculums and teaching methods," he said.
The education ministry has said that the equality of
opportunity, the relevance of education as well as the quality
and efficiency of education are all areas the government is
trying to improve.