Teachers told to focus on practical skills
Teachers told to focus on practical skills
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief yesterday
called on teachers to imbue students with entrepreneurial skills
so that they will not be dependent on the public sector after
finishing school.
Addressing the second day of the 17th congress of the All
Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI), Latief said a study conducted
by the ministry found that most parents in the countryside want
their children to become civil servants.
"It will not benefit the country in the long run because it's
not productive. So teachers are being asked to cope with this
problem by preparing better qualified people," the minister told
the 11,000 participants.
Latief then mentioned a number of employment problems faced by
the country which need to be taken into consideration, especially
by teachers.
He said 75 percent of the people employed in the country are
elementary school graduates at best. This means that most
Indonesian workers are unskilled.
He added that an increasing number of educated people are
jobless. Some 135,000 university graduates seek to join the work
force annually, but only 45 percent of them can be employed in
various sectors.
"Now many Indonesians are burdens to the nation. And what we
want is for them to become national assets," Latief said.
Dealing with the employment and unemployment problems,
vocational education and training are seen as stop-gap measures.
Latief said his ministry has cooperated with the Ministry of
Education and Culture to provide more vocational education and
training to those who cannot continue their studies.
Professionalism
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro urged
the All Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) to improve the
professionalism of its members.
"We need a system which incorporates realistic and feasible
programs," Wardiman said when addressing the congress.
Teachers' professionalism is closely related to the quality of
the students, he said, adding that positive output will result
from a sound teaching-learning process.
The union should start formulating a standard that will enable
teachers and students to teach and learn, respectively, more
effectively, he said.
"The standard must also encourage teachers to make
breakthroughs in teaching methods," he said. "The more time spent
by both teachers and students in the teaching-learning process
the greater the possibility that they will get better results,"
he said.
A quality teaching-learning process must also be followed up
with a good evaluation system.
The union's other important "homework", Wardiman said, is that
it should help the government find ways to improve the welfare of
teachers.
Wardiman pointed out that the programs to be upgraded should
include pre-service training, in-service training and
professional standard evaluations.
Responding to teachers' complaints about inadequate salaries
and the lack of incentives, he said the government would try to
improve teachers' welfare.
"This is crucial for helping teachers improve their
professionalism. They will not have time to enrich their
knowledge if their incomes are not adequate to meet their basic
needs," he said. (11/prs)