New national curriculum not possible until 2000
JAKARTA (JP): Despite strong calls from education experts to revise the 1994 national education curriculum quickly, officials say the revised edition will not be ready until 2000 at the earliest.
Head of the Center for Curriculum Development and Educational Instruments, Djamil Ibrahim, said that overhauling a curriculum was no easy task; requiring thorough consideration and preparation.
"To revise a curriculum also means revising the whole national education system, it's not an easy and quick job.
"It needs time and full attention. It can be finished in 2000 at the earliest or, at the latest, in 2004," he told The Jakarta Post.
Djamil also warned of possible "side effects" from a hasty application of a new curriculum.
He pointed out financial implications which may arise because the government would have to appropriate a hefty budget to fund its application as well as upgrade teachers' skills and publish new textbooks.
"Parents will also be affected because they have to shop for new books for their children. Its especially tough in this monetary crisis. I don't think we want students to drop out of schools just because their parents can't afford to buy new books," he said.
According to Djamil, a team comprising officials from the ministry's research and development body and the Center for Curriculum Development and Educational Instruments, are still in the preliminary phase of revamping the curriculum.
Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono hinted last month that the 1994 curriculum would be revised but noted that it should not be hurried, particularly considering the country's dire condition.
It is expected that the revisions would focus on, among others, the number of subjects given and teaching methodology.
The 1994 curriculum was launched by the then minister of education and culture, Wardiman Djojonegoro.
It was designed to meet growing industrial needs by providing skilled human resources, based on a "link and match" orientation in which schools would provide basic vocational training to students entering a specific occupation.
The 1994 curriculum replaced the 1984 one, which focused on an active learning process by students facilitated by their teachers.
However, the 1994 curriculum has received a barrage of criticism for being to centralistic and rigid.
Currently serving senior officials at the Ministry of Education and Culture are among those who have lambasted the 1994 curriculum, stressing the need for an immediate revision.
Director General of Extracurricular Education, Youth and Sports Soedijarto contended the 1994 curriculum burdens students and teachers with too many subjects.
"Students can't even enjoy their classes. So how can we say they comprehend the knowledge?" he asked.
Soedijarto was all for an immediate revision of the current curriculum despite his own minister's warning that it should not be a hurried process.
He brushed aside arguments of the high cost of implementing a new curriculum at the present time, arguing that failure to do so would gravely affect Indonesia's future generation.
"In two or three years time, we'll only have laborers to fulfill industry needs, we won't have people who are educated," he charged.
Soedijarto further lamented what he believed to be an embedded lapse in national education of over-stressing the importance of grades.
Currently, he said, students were focused too much on attaining high grades without truly comprehending the content of their knowledge.
Soedijarto argued that the 1994 curriculum had the original intent of producing intellectuals but it has been misinterpreted as those with satisfying grades.
"Grades are not the right measure because the essence of our education is how to prepare basic knowledge and skills to live in our society," he said. (emf)