Expert criticizes 1994 school curriculum

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)