Reforming education with an eye to democracy

By Nirwan Idrus

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia played center stage on Monday, June 7. The whole world watched the general election on that day, claimed to be Indonesia's first real democratic election in four decades.

Television coverage around the world showed ordinary Indonesians preparing to vote and putting their ballots in the boxes marked with the appropriate RT and RW numbers (neighborhood community associations). Most were clothed in better than daily dresses, particularly the women, but all showed happy and jovial faces. There is no doubt that it was a happy occasion for all Indonesians.

No doubt that there is still be a great need to improve the election process, including the way people vote. For example, inking the index finger could be done away once a computerized network system of election registrants is available; or punching a hole through a political party icon on the ballot could be replaced with electors writing in numbers, thereby allowing preferential voting as is practiced elsewhere in democratic countries. And the practice of surrendering votes willy nilly to a party as allegedly happened in the Indonesian general election can be avoided.

A lot of people also commented somewhat unfavorably about the campaign which, in a number of cases, inconvenienced them as roads were jammed by political parties' supporters. Everyone, however, sighed with great relief in the end because nothing worse than that occurred, despite the mass of people involved.

How then can we improve things for next time? The simple answer is education. Why education, and aren't Indonesians educated enough?

The recent general election was constrained in that people simply chose one political party because the method used allowed only that. Whereas a preferential system of election, with voters putting their preferences on the ballot rather than putting a hole through the icon or logo of the political party they back or support, will allow a more realistic choice.

After all, it is not unexpected that a voter may have empathy toward a number of political parties policies. A preferential electoral system will also allow such empathy be taken into account through preferential distribution.

With 48 political parties contesting the election recently, voters obviously should not be given 48 choices in the ballot. The legislature can decide on a maximum number of preferences, say four or five, although the electoral office will still need to be ready to include the 48 parties in the preferences. But these are only a question of administration, if we really want to be democratic.

However, if we really want to be the third-largest democracy in the world, then voting Indonesians will need to learn what democracy really means. Indonesians will need to be able to exercise their rights as democratic people.

Democracy, by definition, must be based on the "head" rather than on the "heart", which the latest election could be categorized as being. A real democracy must be the result of people coolly balancing the policies of the different political parties as they affect the population or be more selfish on how the policies affect them in their profession, in their lives and in things close to their hearts. It is hoped that the next general election will reflect this more than the recent one.

A few weeks ago, one of the presidential hopes suggested that the campaigning should be along the lines of policies and not a show of people strength through cavalcades. It was very fortunate that no fatal casualties were attributable to these cavalcades, although one party in particular suffered quite a physical battering.

Why wasn't the suggestion taken up? Particularly at a time when a lot of other things in Indonesia are being reformed. Why shouldn't the way we elect our representatives also be reformed? It would have been real reform. Yet, Indonesians still elected their representatives by putting a hole through the ballot, which is not only a "status quo" method but somewhat primitive, as were the street cavalcades.

No one would get a prize for guessing that the reason is education, in order for the people to participate in intellectual discussions on parties policies, for example, or for them to understand not only what is written but what is meant by those policies, as well as deciding which parties are supporting the people's interest on what are specific issues and what are not.

There is not the slightest doubt that Indonesians at all levels can and do discuss policies, to the extent that many foreign journalists used to deliberately seek becak (three- wheeled pedicab) drivers when they wanted to learn about what is happening in Indonesian politics.

One cannot be certain whether this is an indictment of foreign journalism or of Indonesian politics, or both. The thing is, of course, that becak drivers do not make the numbers to elect even one legislator and their comments are questionable.

There is a need for Indonesians to be better informed and better able to choose appropriately. Through education, good quality education, one would expect the people to be educated in critical and rational thinking, a most important ingredient of democratic living.

Through good quality education, the people will also learn how to take responsibility for their own well-being as well as the well-being of others and the country. Through education, the people will also learn how to accommodate the opinions and arguments of others, which as a whole, will help democracy to flourish, that is, if you really want real democracy, and for Indonesia to become the third-largest democracy in the world.

You may well ask what type of education are we talking about here. We are talking about all education. We need primary, secondary as well as tertiary or postsecondary education. We need Indonesians to love reading, not just newspapers and magazines, but books, especially books about democracy, books about policies, about government and governance, about science and technology, about development overseas and about knowledge in general.

Naturally, this will not possible until the people involved in education here provide the example. Too many of our teachers and lecturers are busy earning a living (normally doing a second or third job), so that they do not have the time to read.

Also, too many of our students read nothing else other than their diktat (handouts). Very few substantiate what they learn through lectures by reading references or other textbooks dealing with the same subject.

Overseas, postgraduate supervisors at universities continue to lament the overt lack of reading and discussion abilities of Indonesian postgraduate students, most of whom are lecturers at Indonesian universities. Even a director general at the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kompas, May 26, 1999), said that the government does not yet have a strong political desire to ensure the implementation of the education function in order to achieve national education, except in equity, while equity without quality and relevance will have a negative impact.

As an illustration, he said that the increased participation of the young (19 to 24 year olds) in higher education is nothing more than an extension of the secondary education, producing people who feel that they have a degree in education but do not have the intellectual and professional capability as graduates.

Such a statement, particularly coming from a very senior officer at the Ministry of Education and Culture, is in itself an example of openness and perhaps a manifestation of democracy. But it is also a profound statement of the state of our education as Indonesia embarks on democracy.

Given just those somewhat superficial requirements of a democratic society from an education point of view, it is even more pressing to prioritize upgrading the quality of education at all levels in Indonesia.

This would mean that teachers and lecturers must do their jobs properly; the management systems at schools and universities or polytechnics must be improved, devolution in the management of these institutions must be implemented and all in the new paradigm declared a couple of years ago must also be practiced. International aid and loan organizations must also consider these when approving aid and loans to Indonesia.

This will strengthen democracy in Indonesia as desired by the free world and particularly by the Indonesian people. The role of education in democracy is not only desirable, it is imperative.

The writer is an international higher education consultant living in Jakarta. This article is a personal opinion only.