Indonesians lowest in basic skills
Indonesians lowest in basic skills
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A lack of teachers, disparity of facilities in regions, the
qualification of teachers and teaching methods, were the main
causes of the inadequacy among Indonesian students in basic
skills, Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar said.
He was commenting on the recently published survey of 15-year-
olds conducted by UNESCO's Program for International Student
Assessment (PISA). The survey ranked Indonesian students among
the lowest in basic skills compared to their peers in 42 other
countries.
"In terms of the number of students in schools, basic
education in Indonesia is growing very rapidly. However, in terms
of quality a wide gap still exists between big and modern cities
and small and less developed ones," Malik told The Jakarta Post.
As an example, he mentioned the lack of facilities, including
teaching staff, that is experienced by many regions in the
country.
"Since the Old Order the government has been trying to resolve
the shortage of teachers by implementing several programs," he
said. "At one time, university students and graduates were sent
to remote areas to become teachers, and to open schools".
"But most programs were either changed or stopped because of
social, political, economic and security changes," he said.
The programs were not capable of being sustained and failed to
reach their goals, according to the minister. He said the
education system needed to keep in mind four simultaneous
elements: growth, change, renewal and sustainability. He admitted
that Indonesia was still lacking in all those four.
Malik also said that most of the reading material given to
elementary school students was too hard to understand. "Most
(reading materials) lack any connection to daily life and do not
allow students to use either their imagination or creativity".
"What is happening now is that teachers and institutions are
trying to 'impress' students with modern facilities and
complicated texts," he said, "this only makes students unable to
understand what they are learning, even in basic areas."
Students are used to memorizing material and don't understand
what they are learning.
He regretted that many students were not familiar with the
animals and plants of Indonesia.
"If students fail to understand what they learn at lower
levels it follows that they will fail to understand what they
learn at higher levels," said the minister.
Malik said the government is working on narrowing the gap
between city and outer-city schools. It is hoped that financial
aid will increase the quality of students across the country and
fulfill the need for community-based education.
However, he said, it was not easy to bring about change. "The
government can implement tough policies but we should also
consider the reaction of the people".
He referred to the controversial new system of the national
final exam (UAN).
The new system distinguishes graduates as those that passed
the exam (lulus) and those that failed, but are considered to
have finished their school years (tamat).
Those who passed (lulus) may continue their study or work,
while those who failed but finished their schooling, (tamat) may
work but can't continue their studies.
He also questioned the teachers' readiness to adjust to new
policies. "Most have been under the same system for years and it
is hard to change, we are talking about a fixed mind-set," said
the minister.
The minister concluded that if conditions were sustainable the
rehabilitation of the basic education system could still take at
least 10 years and a budget of about Rp 15 trillion (US$1,765
billion).
"That would cover the whole country and include the cost of
teachers, facilities and improvements to the school environment."