On competency-based curriculum

On competency-based curriculum

In writing about the new competency based curriculum currently
being introduced into the education system in Indonesia (Benefits
and pitfalls of the new curriculum, The Jakarta Post, June 25),
Alpha Amirrachman correctly highlights many of the issues
surrounding this significant change.

While the original impetus for the introduction of the new
curriculum could be debated (seeing it as simply a consequence of
decentralization seems too narrow an interpretation to me), Pak
Alpha correctly identifies the numerous interrelated issues and
challenges that the implementation of the competency-based
curriculum presents -- the potential difficulties re-
"decentralization" of curriculum design, the mismatch with the
content-based national examinations, the need for teacher
professional development, appropriate teaching materials and
resources, as well as clear standards with which to measure
competencies, and the need for support from local government and
the private sector to meet these needs.

However, I feel that the use of the word "incompetent" to
describe about 50 percent of all teachers gives an impression
that is both unfair and incorrect. To many people, the word
"incompetent" in English carries with it negative connotations --
someone who is so bad at their job that they are almost incapable
of improving.

While all professions -- medical, legal, academic, etc. --
have a small percentage of people who could be classified as
"incompetent", the experience of Save the Children UK education
staff who have been working with the Ministry of Education in
West Timor, Maluku, North Maluku and West Kalimantan to train
primary school teachers in active learning, student-centered
methodologies which support the competency-based curriculum,
shows that while the majority of teachers may currently lack the
competence to implement the competency-based curriculum, they are
far from "incompetent" and are eager to improve their knowledge
and skills in this area. The problem is that they have previously
received little, if any, support to do so.

With budgeting for education now decentralized, it is
essential that those who make the decisions regarding education
budgets, particularly at the district level, allocate more
funding for primary education and particularly for in-service
training for teachers (often neglected in favor of new
buildings). Without this support, the implementation of the new
curriculum will become, as the writer points out, just another
ineffective Band-Aid solution to the problems within the
education system.

JOHN HOWE, National Education Adviser, Save the Children UK,
Jakarta