House expects to release new education bill this month
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Rekindling hopes of a better education for the nation's children, lawmakers plan to release a new education bill later this month, promising greater authority for schools and the public to decide what and how students learn.
The bill's release will come against the backdrop of continuing debate over the country's changing education system.
Legislators expect to complete the bill by May 26, according to an official at the Ministry of Education.
"They (legislators) will still have to discuss it with the government at various working meetings," said Ibrahim Musa, a consultant to the now defunct Education Reforms Committee.
The committee was in charge of drafting the bill before legislators took over the job. If enacted, it would replace the 1989 education law.
Ibrahim said the new bill reflects the implementation of regional autonomy, which began in 2001. However, its main goal is to reform the education sector, he added.
One of its ground-breaking features will be to give schools greater authority in managing their own affairs.
"The government provides the national curriculum, schools decide how they are going to achieve it and with what books," Ibrahim explained.
According to him, this concept has been widely accepted by both schools and parents whom the government has sought comments from.
An important indicator of the direction of the reforms can be found under the bill's chapter defining the purpose of national education.
In the latest draft, Ibrahim said, the purpose was to develop the potential of a learner to become a person of good character, who is healthy, knowledgeable, creative, aesthetic and democratic.
The revised purpose is far shorter than the present one, making it less demanding and more achievable.
It is also the summary of various opinions compiled by the National Education Commission. The commission seats education experts, academics, religious leaders, economists and public representatives.
The country's education sector has lost its direction since the reform era emerged, following the downfall of Soeharto in 1998.
As the nation braces a multitude of changes, it has become clear the 1989 education law is no longer fit to cope with them.
Despite efforts to provide an agreeable redefinition of the purpose behind the national education system, the gap in opinion remain vast.
Conflicting ideas on the issue are common and the debate remains a heated one among experts of the same field.
Education expert J.P. Drost said every time the government wanted to change its education policy, critics killed the initiative.
This time around, he said, the government lacked clarity over what its new policy meant and where it was leading to.
He also suggested the state should not meddle too much in character development as it was unsuitable for classroom teaching.
"The purpose of education should be to develop people's potential and enable them to mature so they become competent in whatever field they choose," Drost explained.
Education expert Arief Rachman shared a different point of view. He said education should focus on developing character and knowledge.
"Mathematics, physics and so on are of course important, but they should not become the leading benchmark. Personality is more important," he added.