RI requires much higher quality education nationwide; Academics

Leony Aurora, Jakarta

Education observers suggested on Wednesday that the government should focus on improving the quality of education at schools instead of merely pushing for higher standards in the national final examinations.

Chairperson of the Indonesian Educators Association Sudjiarto said during a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday that several factors, such as curriculum, teachers, as well as students' backgrounds and conditions, influenced the quality of education.

"In Indonesia, the disparities (among schools and students) are huge," he told reporters. "It is impossible to expect equal results from the learning process."

Conny Semiawan, who once taught in the former Jakarta Teacher Training Institute, said that evaluation on the disparities should be the point of departure in improving education.

A report of the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) in 2001 revealed that in Indonesia, 62 percent of elementary school teachers and 29 percent of junior high teachers were not capable of teaching, said Conny.

"Therefore we need to fairly distribute and place teachers across the country," she added.

The observers were commenting on the implementation of the national final examinations. Students need to score at least 4.01 in all subjects, including in English, Bahasa Indonesia and Mathematics that will be drafted by the Ministry of National Education, in order to obtain "passing" certificates and continue their education.

Sudjiarto said that in Germany and the United States, national assessments for students were also conducted, but they served more as feedback to map out problems and not to decide whether the students could go to the next grade or not.

Meanwhile, head of Indonesia Corruption Watch Teten Masduki questioned the motives behind the national exams.

"Wrongly allocated budgets -- using budget for one program while there are other more pressing priorities -- can be considered as corruption," Teten said.

An estimated Rp 1 trillion (US$116.28 million) from the central government, provincial, regental and municipal administrations, as well as from parents, would be spent on the exams and their preparation, Teten said.

The government has allocated Rp 280 billion from its budget for the national exams and the remedial tests. At the provincial level, for example, the Jakarta administration has provided Rp 10 billion more for the implementation of the tests.

In comparison, from this year's state budget, Rp 200 billion has been set aside for the construction of 215 much needed new junior high schools.