In search of talented teachers

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