Private sector asked to help provide for gifted children
Private sector asked to help provide for gifted children
MAGELANG, Central Java (JP): Minister of Education and Culture
Wardiman Djojonegoro has asked the private sector to help support
the educational needs of Indonesia's brightest children.
"We wish to meet this special group's needs but for the moment
the government's hands are full with its efforts to expand
learning opportunities for everyone through the nine-year
compulsory basic education program," he told the press here
Saturday.
Statistically, highly gifted children make up about 0.02
percent of the total population of 185 million people. An
estimated two percent are classified as gifted and talented,
while another six percent are disabled.
"The highly gifted children are this country's future
'computers'," he said. "Their potential should be developed as
early as possible."
In the past, the government has asked the private sector to
contribute to help provide schooling for children with
exceptional educational needs. Wardiman said the government would
provide land or school buildings, while private foundations or
institutions would provide other facilities.
President Soeharto is scheduled to launch the nine-year
program today, which has been in the works for the last five
years.
The government has expressed the hope that the program will be
completed within the next 10 or 15 years. If all goes as planned,
by the year 2004 at least 98 percent of the children between 13
to 15 years of age will have a junior high school education.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the government introduced
special education programs for gifted children, despite the
public criticism over the 'discriminatory' nature of such
programs. In the late 1980s the programs were gradually
terminated, but not before the Agency for Research and
Development of Technology (BPPT) sent 2,400 of the gifted
students to study abroad.
The government launched the six-year program a decade ago and
it has been successful in increasing enrollment in elementary
schools.
Wardiman said that the government still has to face major
problems in the program such as the high drop-out rate, plus the
shortages of school buildings, teachers, and facilities. At
present the government is only able to provide one book for every
ten students.
The minister was in Magelang to open the Haji Widayat Art
Museum. During his visit here Wardiman also visited the Taruna
Nusantara High School where 736 students have been selected among
the brightest children. The minister called the school 'SMA (High
school) Plus,' as it has most ideal facilities and is expected to
yield highly-qualified graduates.
The school has not only first-class students but also first-
class teachers," he said. (swe)