In search of talented teachers

Iwan Pranoto in his article "Nation needs talented teachers" (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 3) stated some of the problems in the Indonesian educational system and suggested several solutions, focusing on improving the quality of teachers.

The greatest teacher training resource in this country is hidden in the international schools, which are only available to children of expatriates. To tap this resource for the benefit of Indonesian children, the relevant authorities should stipulate that:

1. International schools contribute part of their manpower (e.g. 10 percent) to teacher training in nearby Indonesian schools or universities specializing in training teachers. This assistance should be directed to Indonesian schools that are striving to give Indonesian children high quality education, but which are still below international school standards.

2. Then, to prevent brain drain from Indonesian schools, rich international schools should not be permitted to poach staff from Indonesian schools. All staff hired by international schools should be certified as not having worked in an Indonesian school in the past 12 months.

These recommendations only address the quality of teachers at the upper economic level. Improving teacher quality in poor government schools is a very different and much bigger problem. Hopefully, expatriates will endorse these suggestions as a way to contribute to the development of Indonesia, a way that is effective and totally leakproof. This is a contribution to development, not to charity; it should not replace expatriates' charitable efforts, which are sorely needed these days.

NINA STOLTZ

Bogor, West Java