On bilingual education

With regards to Raden Dunbar's letter of response to my article Bilingual education remains a fantasy for Indonesian schools, I would like to make a few simple observations.

Clearly Dunbar exists in an exceptional condition. He reports that "80 percent of his students come from an Indonesian family background where at least one parent is a native English-speaker or is fluent with English as a second language". Is it not all too obvious that this is an highly exceptional condition for Indonesia? Does Dunbar really think that many schools in Indonesia enjoy such a high degree of bilingualism? One would hope not because such a thought truly is in the realms of fantasy!

The point that I was making in the article was that bilingualism is a difficult goal to attain and for many it may not be realistic to make the attempt as it may only confuse and so hinder rather than help education. I think it is reasonable to conclude that Dunbar is fortunate to work with a Yayasan and school council that is bilingual but there are not many schools in Indonesia that can claim such conditions. My intention in the original article was merely to warn of the unnecessary difficulties that may be caused to students if bilingualism is not carefully and capably targeted.

I congratulate Dunbar and his Yayasan and school council on their bilingual educational efforts, and I hope that he and they recognize that I am not intending to negatively criticize but rather positively promote realism and professionalism throughout Indonesia's educational development.

DR. SIMON MARCUS GOWER

Tangerang, Banten