Kid's computers make successful debut

Kid's computers make successful debut

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Educationists are urging the government to revise the education
bill, citing lack of vision and focus, before it becomes law in
August of this year.

Harimurti Kridalaksana, the rector of Atma Jaya University
said that the bill had failed to provide a platform for the
development of national education.

Summarizing the results of an education seminar held by his
university last Wednesday, he said that the government should
explain in the education bill about the goals it was aiming for
and provide clear directions about how these were to be achieved.

"The bill does not mention clearly what goals we want to
achieve in the future and how we are to assess our present
weaknesses," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The bill, which was drafted by the House of Representatives
with the help of a government-appointed team, is intended to
replace the 1989 education law in a bid to keep up with the
latest developments in the education sector.

Harimurti criticized the bill for its erroneous vision on
education. He said that the bill was defective in this regard as
it identified education as a social institution.

"An institution is the end result, a product which cannot be
developed anymore. But education is the process of making people
become qualified," he said.

Harimurti said that the bill focused more on technical and
operational matters rather than the philosophical aspects. "There
is an article stating the punishments for universities that issue
fake degrees. We believe that technical things like this should
be accommodated in a government regulation or a ministerial
decree," he said.

He added that the bill also focused more on formal education,
which was only a small part of overall education. Instead, the
bill should have explained the differences between informal and
non-formal education in more detail.

Harimurti emphasized the government's commitment to regulating
teachers' development as teachers were the key players in
education.

"Teachers should be well-equipped with superb teaching methods
so that they are competent enough to manage a competence-based
curriculum," he said.

Harimurti warned the government and regional administrations
to not take the development of national education for granted.
"They should not only provide an appropriate budget for education
but also realize the importance of education and put priority on
it," he said.

The seminar was full of criticism of the education bill.

Paulus Suparno, the rector of Sanata Dharma University, said
during the seminar that the bill was still not conducive for
creating good relations among religions.

"The bill should give students freedom to choose what
religious classes they wish to join. It should also set out clear
rules for students who do not adhere to any of the official
religions," he said.

J. Sudarminta, the rector of the Driyakarya Institute of
Philosophy, emphasized that the bill only focused on various
kinds of educational workers, instead of elaborating on their
functions and duties.

"The bill should provide clear directions on how to improve
the quality of national education because it states that the
government and regional administrations should make
improvements," he said.

Elsewhere, Paulus Wirotomo, head of the Department of Social
Development Management at the University of Indonesia, said that
the bill did not give any real authority to society, including
parents, individuals, social organizations, and private companies
in participating in the development of education.

"It is not clear whether they are allowed to get involved as
followers or actors who actively color the development of our
national education," he said.