RI school system unable to tackle future challenges

RI school system unable to tackle future challenges

JAKARTA (JP): A senior government official expressed doubts
yesterday about the ability of the country's education system in
preparing the nation to meet the challenges of the future.

"In my opinion, the education levels and cultures of our
people are still inadequate in meeting future challenges, which
will be far more complex and difficult," Rahardi Ramelan, deputy
chairman of the National Development Planning Board, said.

Rahardi blamed this condition on the poor performance of the
entire national education system, from the kindergarten to
university level.

Poverty is very much a factor in this problem, he told a
national seminar to discuss the problems and challenges facing
the country's education and cultural sectors.

Many families, for economical reasons, do not send their
children to kindergarten. They bypass this process and send them
to primary schools, he said. This is reflected in the poor
quality of primary school graduates. The problem is compounded
when they move up to high school and later to universities.

The seminar, sponsored by the Ministry of Education and
Culture, draws about 300 participants, mostly education experts.
It is intended to gather material for the drafting of the
government's Broad Guidelines of State Policy for the 1998-2003
period.

Other speakers addressing the forum yesterday included former
education minister Fuad Hasan, Nurcholis Madjid of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences and the Rector of the Bandung Institute of
Technology, Wiranto Arismunandar.

Rahardi said access to secondary education in Indonesia is
still not evenly spread across the country. He did not offer any
reasons, but pointed to a 1993 survey which showed that only 45
percent of Indonesia's high-school age children had access to
school. In comparison, the rate in Malaysia was 58 percent, the
Philippines 74 percent, Singapore 70 percent, and South Korea 90
percent.

He also noted the high drop-out rates for junior and senior
high school students -- both in rural and urban areas -- which
are mostly for economical reasons.

Rahardi questioned the effectiveness of the teaching methods
adopted by schools, which have contributed to the low mastery of
science, mathematics and languages (particularly foreign
languages) commonly found among students.

The practice of giving homework should be reviewed, he said.
Many students do not have the time to study at home because they
have to help their parents earn a living. Besides, the low
education backgrounds of their parents often hampers them from
completing their homework properly.

At the university level, Rahardi said that many students spend
longer time than what is normally required to complete their
studies, something which he attributed to the bad management,
poor curriculum and campus atmosphere that is often not conducive
to studying. (31)