Students don't need extra lessons

Students don't need extra lessons

JAKARTA: Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar
expressed concern on Saturday at the widespread habit among
teachers of asking elementary school students to take after-class
lessons in a bid to boost their performance.

Malik said, in his visit to his hometown of Magelang in
Central Java, that students did not need extra lessons as they
were already exhausted after their normal classes.

"Students are tired after having classes from 7 in the
morning. It would be ineffective to require them to take extra
lessons, not to mention the possibility that some children do not
eat breakfast," Malik said, as quoted by Antara.

It is quite common for teachers to require students to attend
after-school lessons ahead of their final exams.

According to the minister, students' performance was not the
result of how frequently extra lessons were taken, but the
teachers' enthusiasm in carrying out their duties.

"In the past teachers possessed the spirit and intention to
dedicate themselves to their students' education," Malik
recalled.

He suggested that students be taught "soft" lessons after 11
a.m., including singing, story-telling, drawing or handicraft.

"Moral values are easily inculcated among students during the
leisure classes," Malik, who is a former teacher, said.

Malik visited state elementary schools in Pasuruhan and
Deyangan subdistricts, where he handed over financial assistance
to help the schools buy more equipment.

The minister was a 1952 graduate of the Deyangan elementary
school. -- JP