Next government's task to strengthen education

Next government's task to strengthen education

Simon Marcus Gower, Jakarta

In these last few remaining days before the final round of
elections for the presidential office, many voices have been
heard advising on what the next government of Indonesia should do
under the next presidential term. A veritable cacophony of advice
has rung out as commentators express their hopes and even fears
for what lies ahead.

The presidential candidates too have added to the discussion
and debate with their own proposals and even promises. Amongst
these it has been possible to occasionally hear of thoughts
regarding the development of education here. It is understandable
that both candidates have sought to highlight their commitment to
education but politicians will often present ideas ahead of
elections. The greater and greatest concerns for the electorate
is -- "are such ideas workable?"

Education is obviously a very important area for presidential
and governmental planning. All over the world politicians see
education as a key policy concern and even a key vote winner.
Quite often candidates around the world have been heard to state
that for them what matters is "education, education and
education."

But how can planning for education be truly effective in the
Indonesian context? The figures alone can be hugely troublesome
and even overwhelming. Estimates suggest that there are
approaching two million school teachers in Indonesia and
regrettably many of these teachers could be described as being
disaffected and dissatisfied with their positions.

However, Indonesia cannot be considered as isolated and alone
in this regard. It is a quite common occurrence for teachers to
experience and express feelings of being undervalued and so in a
real way left in a condition of being under motivated. But in the
Indonesian context this condition is perhaps exacerbated by the
working environments that teachers have to work in.

Consistently school rooms can be seen that are under equipped
and are lacking in resources that would embellish the teachers'
abilities to be effective and most useful in their guidance of
students towards an education. Alongside of this is the often
quite dilapidated state of many a school room. Even the most
rudimentary of classroom provisions such as a table or desk for
the students to work on can be absent because the school simply
does not have the funds to replace broken items.

Recent news items concerning the condition of schools also
highlight how greatly in need of investment schools really are.
Within the past month there have been reports -- for example --
that in the West Java regency some twenty-five percent of all
school buildings are in need of urgent repairs either because of
their age or because of "natural disasters" that have caused
damage to them. The extent of the concern here is so great that
fears are expressed for the safety of attending children.

Likewise in Yogyakarta it has been reported that upwards of
two-hundred schools are in need of repairs; again either due to
their old age or the weather conditions that they have been
exposed to. Many schools in Jakarta too have fallen victim to
flooding that has caused extensive damage.

This litany of damage and woe for school buildings and their
facilities amounts to nothing short of a funding crisis. Any
reasonable estimate of what it would take to restore these masses
of school buildings to a more respectable, and quite simply safe,
condition would surely amount to billions upon billions of
rupiah.

These, then, are short term and quite immediate needs that the
next government for Indonesia must most surely seek to address
through the allocation of a greater portion of its budget for
education; but budgeting for education needs also to address more
long term needs and concerns. The aspirations of any organization
and likewise any nation are hugely dependent upon its people --
effectively its human resources.

Naturally enough, in the context of Indonesia's schools, this
means that the human resource, the teachers, for schools needs to
be carefully considered and, so it would seem, be better
supported. Recent developments in education have shown signs that
government is trying to redress some of the inadequacies of the
education system here but for these to be effective it becomes
essential that teachers are better prepared and supported.

The most significant and immediate example of this would be
the relatively recent development of a new curriculum for schools
here. Known as the competency-based curriculum, the goals of this
approach are commendable and appropriate for the modernization of
Indonesian schooling. The competency-based curriculum, with its
direction towards more inclusive models of teaching rather than a
very one-way, directive approach and the aim of knowledge and
skills development and use rather than simple rote-type knowledge
retention, is a more relevant and useful model for education now.

But the major concern has to be how well prepared and ready to
implement such a new model and curriculum are teachers? Teachers
would clearly need to receive assistance and training in
achieving an appreciation and ability to deliver a quite
different format of education and learning.

A number of commentators have highlighted that in many
respects, and areas of Indonesia, the competency-based curriculum
is going to be difficult to achieve on the basis of culture
alone. Many teachers would not be ready to accept a more student-
centered and controlled model of education. For them the role of
the teacher is one of a high degree of respect and even distance
from students; coercion and compulsion are rather more the order
of the school day for them than cooperation and collaboration.

Creating such a culture change would be, and effectively for
many is, to create a near total sea-change. It constitutes a
change in the tide and change of direction that is inevitably
going to be difficult for many teachers to achieve for a long,
long time, if at all. So, it is in this context that the
competency-based curriculum, whilst commendable, is very
difficult to apply and truly implement.

Clearly a large effort would have to be made to assist
teachers in their ability to truly include competency-based
learning and stimulate greater autonomy of thought from teachers.
Another recent feature is the aim to have teachers become more
responsible for and active in lesson planning rather than just
"following the book".

Education is, then, a vitally important policy area for the
next presidential administration and government and it will have
to work on two levels; an immediate and short-term level to
address the crisis in built facilities and a more long-term level
to address the need to cultivate greater human resources -- i.e.
the teachers to utilize the school buildings and facilities. The
next government will need to have quick responses accompanied by
longer term visions for the future. The journey is long, but each
step is vital.

The writer is Executive Principal of High/Scope Indonesia
School, Jakarta. The views expressed above are personal.