New textbook policy prone to corruption

New textbook policy prone to corruption

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Experts warned on Sunday of possible corruption and collusion
between officials and book publishers following the education
ministry's decision to require some 150,000 elementary schools
across the country to choose one of eight textbooks it has
designated.

Education expert Winarno Surahmat said it was normal if people
were suspicious about the government's decision to designate
eight textbook publishers out of 28 publishers for the provision
of mathematics textbooks.

"The government should not force schools to use any books
given the current policy of school autonomy. It must focus on
formulating a good curriculum, and setting the criteria for
publishers to produce good books for their students," Winarno
told The Jakarta Post.

"By requiring all schools to select a book from one of the
eight appointed book publishers, the government has raised public
suspicions about the possibility of hidden interests being behind
its decision," he added.

According to Winarno, there is in fact a large number of local
book publishers that produce and sell poor quality textbooks to
schools. Nevertheless, the government should avoid using such a
centralized approach.

"It would be better if the government held a writing
competition for teachers to write high quality textbooks.

"The results of this competition could be used as a reference
for schools to selecting the best textbooks for their students,
but not by obliging schools to purchase certain books without
clear criteria being applied," he said.

In other countries, he said, the governments only established
textbook standards, and let schools choose the most appropriate
textbook for their students.

Director General for Elementary and Intermediate Education
Indra Djati Sidi said earlier that the government would require
all elementary schools to use mathematics textbooks that had been
selected by the education ministry.

The eight appointed publishers were Citra Aji Parama, Ganeca
Exact, Grafindo Media Pratama, Intan Pariwara, Regina, Remaja
Rosda Karya, Setia Purna Inves, and Yudhistira.

The government has argued that the new policy is necessary to
ensure standardization in national education.

Besides obliging schools to select one of the eight appointed
book publishers, the government is also requiring schools to
purchase the textbook in bookstores.

This measure, according to the government, would avoid
teachers receiving commissions from publishers where the
textbooks are purchased directly from the publishers.

The government also said the textbooks would be free for
students, and has allocated a total of Rp 150 billion (US$17.6
million) for textbook procurement.

But there is a growing suspicion that the new procurement
policy will only convert the collusion between teachers and
publishers to collusion between government officials and
publishers.

In 1999, the Directorate of Elementary and Intermediate
Education, also under Indra, screened and passed one set of
English textbooks for junior high schools.

The books, printed using loans from the World Bank, were later
found to contain fundamental errors, which prompted the
government to withdraw them from schools.

Meanwhile, Mochtar Buchori, a member of the House of
Representatives' education commission, agreed that collusion
between teachers and publishers in the procurement of textbooks
must be stopped.

But, he hoped that the new policy would not serve to merely
open up new opportunities for corruption.