New school week must not reduce information
New school week must not reduce information
JAKARTA (JP): The five-day school week, now being tried out in
elementary schools countrywide, should aimed at improving
students' social life, a pedagogue said yesterday.
Abdul Kodir said he feared many educators saw the scheme as a
way to cram as much information into the pupil's heads.
The rector of the Bandung Teachers' Training and Education
Institute (IKIP) suggested that the shorter school week be used
to teach social values through better teacher-student
communication.
"Loading them with information will not be effective because
children of elementary school age can absorb only 30 percent of
what they are taught at school," he said as quoted by the Antara
news agency.
If they were to receive more information through more school
hours, they would only be more tired, Kodir said.
He said what he considered as "mere informative education" was
like "teaching them that two and two make four," while enhancing
social life and teacher-pupil communications was like "showing
them that four piles of sticks equals two piles of sticks ... and
comparing them with five piles of sticks," he said.
Kodir admitted he has not yet decided whether he is for or
against the five-day school week because the tryouts were
implemented by the schools on a voluntary basis.
"The new scheme can only be effective if its implementation is
based on the actual situation of each school and if the
curriculum and supporting facilities, such as sports halls and
laboratories, are adequate," he argued.
He stressed the importance of ingraining reading habits in
children during their elementary school years.
He warned that without reforming the learning-teaching
techniques, a five-day school week would only mean moving several
subjects, which were originally held on Saturdays, to Fridays and
lengthening school hours from Monday to Friday.
"If you intend to make a five-day school week a success, all
you need is more money," he stressed, adding that this was not
impossible considering that many parents were willing to
sacrifice money for the sake of better education for their
children. (pwn)