New national curriculum not possible until 2000

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)