Finding ways to improve the quality of education

By Setiono

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono has admitted there are flaws in the present education system, which has received a barrage of criticisms from the public.

People have long been perplexed by the frequent changes of curriculums which never reflected a coherent and solid policy. Still, many have expressed their concerns over the inconsistency in implementing the educational programs, outlined in the policy. Another criticism concerns the overloaded curriculums that place a heavy emphasis on students' cognitive capacity.

In response to such criticisms, the minister, as quoted in an interview with The Jakarta Post of Aug. 6, urged his ministry to reform the education system and to prepare a nationwide education blueprint that could be used as guidance for all educational policies and programs. Furthermore, he also stressed the importance of altering the concept of education from being teacher-oriented to student-centered.

It is, therefore, apparent that our education system is far from satisfactory and has in fact failed to meet the public demands of quality education.

Owing to this condition, it is imperative for government to establish a national assessment system in order to control the quality of education. Quality assessment is of vital importance as it is used as a means of accountability to the public, who have placed their trust in education and have spent great amounts of money on educational activities.

Another major reason for assessing the quality of educational programs is to make a diagnosis in order to reveal certain impediments that potentially hinder the improvement of education. By so doing, beneficial inputs can be obtained so as to provide proper remedies.

The decreasing quality of education should become a matter of primary concern. Students often complain about the quality of their teachers and of ineffective instruction. Likewise, teachers overwhelmingly lament over their incompetent students.

Furthermore, many employers are unsatisfied with university graduates because several of them are not adequately prepared to do the jobs offered to them. Worse still, a large number of university graduates become unemployed after they finish their studies due to inadequate knowledge they obtain from school.

In entering the next millennium, characterized by science and technology, education, particularly higher education, plays a paramount role in producing highly capable and competent human resources.

It is thus no exaggeration to assert that any educational efforts should be directed primarily to improve the quality of instruction, to enhance the quality of students' learning strategy, to construct challenging testing devices and to develop the interest to do intensive research.

One of the key elements that potentially determine the quality of education is instruction.

Ineffective instruction might have negative impacts on the students' learning, and might accordingly hamper the students' attainment of their goals. Many teachers are of the opinion that effective instruction is tantamount to presenting their teaching in an appealing ways. They may think that the better they perform their teaching, the more likely it is for the students to attain their goals.

Nevertheless, the quality of instruction is not determined merely by good teaching performance, but rather by the degree to which the lessons make sense to students. To make lessons make sense to students, teachers need to relate new information to what students already know. They need to use real-life examples, demonstrations, pictures and diagrams to make ideas vivid to students.

Sometimes a concept the students obtain from their teachers will not make sense to them until they discover it or experience it themselves, or until they discuss it with others.

Another important aspect on quality of instruction is the extent to which the teacher monitors how well students are learning and adapts the pace of instruction so that it is neither too slow nor too fast. For example, teachers are obliged to frequently ask questions to see how much students have grasped.

The effectiveness of students' learning strategy is another essential aspect that undoubtedly determines the quality of education. The fact that many students are unable to apply their knowledge they obtain from schooling is evident that they are seldom encouraged to face problems that need solutions.

Instead, they are continually encouraged to use their memory only, which enables them to store verbal material and retrieve it when needed.

The goal of the present education system should no longer be directed merely to cognitive strategy, but it has to promote analytical, critical and responsible thinking in students when they are confronted with practical problems that require an adequate and competent solution.

This can be executed by assigning the students with study tasks which consists of many problems. They are encouraged to analyze, to synthesize the problems and finally to offer possible solutions. In so doing, they are challenged to use logical thinking and discover strategies that help them facilitate their learning.

Proper statements of instructional objectives and the effectiveness of learning strategies are basic requirements for the construction of tests that could be used as instruments to assess how well students have achieved the intended goals. The level of students' performance, as measured by tests or observations, is one of the indicators that reflects the quality of education.

In constructing test devices, test makers should construct test in such a way that they encourage students' critical and logical thinking, and will eventually improve qualified learning. Such test types as multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank are, therefore, not recommended.

Finally, the quality of education could be improved by means of cultivating the interest of doing research. The interest in conducting research in the country seems to be lacking and this reality inevitably creates constraints and hampers endeavors to improve the quality of education.

After all, attempts to improve our education system must be carried out by involving not only the central authorities but also researchers, teachers, and the practitioners in the field of education.

In other words, different groups within the society have equal access and opportunities to participate and to work in tandem so as to find ways to respond to the demands and interests of the society for better and qualified education.

The writer is a member of the teaching staff member of the Faculty of Education at the Atma Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta.