Expert criticizes 1994 school curriculum

JAKARTA (JP): The current high school curriculum introduced by the government in 1994 is designed solely for those intending to further their education at universities, not for those who plan to work, leading education expert J. Drost said yesterday.

Effectively, the curriculum caters for the needs of 30 percent of high school students but neglects the interests of the other 70 percent, Drost was quoted as saying by Antara.

On average, only 30 percent of high school graduates have the intellectual capacity to go to university, whether it is in Indonesia or elsewhere in the world, he told a seminar held in connection with the Popular Science Festival for Senior High Schools organized by the Atma Jaya University.

"If 70 percent of our senior high school students have bad scores, that is not because they are lazy, or lacking in discipline. That is because the curriculum is not suitable for them in the first place," Drost said.

Drost, a Catholic priest and former principal of Kanisius and Gonzaga College in Jakarta, said the 1994 curriculum represents a step backward for Indonesian education.

He recalled that in the 1950s, high schools offered a wide range of alternatives for students according to their ability and intentions.

"The system in the 1950s accepted the reality that there were children who were weak, average, intelligent and very intelligent.

"Since 1994, that reality has been denied," he said.

The 1994 curriculum offers students no choice, he said.

The three alternatives offered to third and final grade students at senior high schools -- exact and nature sciences, B social studies and language -- are specializations to prepare them for university, he said.

"Indonesia is probably the only country in the world where every child is treated as having the same intellectual capacity," Drost said. (emb)