Tug of war between government and public over national examinations

Tug of war between government and public over national examinations

Alpha Amirrachman, Jakarta

The plan to institute National Final Examinations has drawn
criticism from many education observers who are baffled as to why
the central government is insisting on them while at the same
time an independent national body to implement standardization
has yet been established.

The national examinations are also perceived to be against the
National Education System Law (No. 20/2003), which sets out the
rights of teachers to evaluate their students. Many also accuse
the central government of trying to impose recentralizion by the
back door -- something that would clearly be inconsistent with
the spirit of decentralization as part of which local authorities
have been given substantial powers over education under Law No.
22/1999. Worse still, only three subjects will be examined --
Bahasa Indonesia, English and Mathematics, and the examinations
are to be in multiple choice rather than essay format, prompting
fears that the new tests will fail to measure students' real
cognitive abilities.

The central government, backed mostly by its own surveys and
studies, argues that the national examinations are needed for the
sake of standardization, even during the transition period until
such time as the regulations on national education
standardization have been finalized.

Consequently, there is apprehension that schools will have to
provide extra tutoring for students merely for the sake of
passing the tests, while other schools might upgrade their
students' performance for the sake of maintaining or polishing up
the school's image.

There is not doubt that we need a standardized system that is
capable of ensuring quality education. However, all the
stakeholders, such as teachers, parents and educationalists,
should be extensively consulted. Local participation should not
be damaged by the desire to "standardize". Democracy cannot not
be put back in the box as it has already penetrated into all
fields of life. The government cannot just ignore what has been
agreed with the stakeholders.

What is clear, however, is the fact that the central
government is becoming increasingly reluctant to devolve its
powers to the local level. There is a tug of war underway
involving the stakeholders -- particularly between the central
government and local government -- regarding the implementation
of decentralization in education. The center wants to get its
powers back, while the local governments want more powers. A
perusal of the literature on decentralization around the world
reveals that this kind of chaotic situation has arisen in many
countries and is, actually, quite predictable.

For example, Hans Weiller (1990) in his classic arguments
regarding "compensatory legitimation" implies that education
decentralization is mainly motivated by the need to reinforce the
legitimacy of the central authority. In the light of the failure
of centralized education systems and the popularity of the notion of
increased local participation, a move to devolve powers to the
local level is normally popular and serves as effective
insulation amidst conflictual circumstances.

What normally happens then is that the central government
finds that it has lost too much power. At the same time,
legitimacy is eroded as many shortcomings became apparent after
the dust of euphoria has settled. As Weiller argues, the central
authorities might be prompted to conduct an evaluation of what
has been done so as to ascertain whether things such as a
"certain degree of homogeneity" are still intact. Sections within
the center, whose power was severely curtailed by
decentralization, might be eager to use this opportunity to
resurrect their lost "glory days".

All of this only serves to confirm that education is always
closely linked to politics. E. B. Fiske (1996) describes the
political aspects of education as follows: "Embodiments of
national values"; "a source of political power"; "vehicle for
exercising power"; and "political weapons". This country serves
as an excellent example of a place where education has always
been politically misused from supporting autocratic regimes to
serving as a cash cow for bureaucrats through their participation
in lucrative projects.

Is it possible for us to restrain ourselves from abusing
education and for once to put the interests of our young people
first? Is it possible that we could treat education in a more
civilized manner? As long as power is involved, however, it would
seem that the answers to both these questions is "No". So who
else can save our education system given that the bureaucrats are
so preoccupied with amassing more power for themselves and
competing to win lucrative projects, while ignoring the
pedagogical aspects?

We might be skeptical, but we do not need to give up hope
entirely. There is still a glimmer of light at the end of the
tunnel. For example, the fact that we triumphed in International
Science Olympiads abroad at least proves that we have not lost a
generation despite the prolonged political misuse and abuse of
our education system. All we can do is to nurture the students
that show potential and encourage others to follow suit by
affording as many educational opportunities for them as possible.

Given that our trust in the government has reached such a low
ebb, it is timely for every responsible parent to begin seriously
exploring and identifying the talents possessed by their children
and to guide them in a proper, pedagogical way. Carefully
selected formal and non-formal education, for example, can be
constructive for the development of our children -- development
that covers not only the cognitive but also the affective and
psychomotoric aspects.

This spirit should be initiated and continuously nurtured at
home, and could in the long run turn out to be far more successful
than the instrumentalist approaches pursued by the state, which
have always been contaminated with hefty doses of political trial
and error.

Jakarta,

The writer (a.amirrachman@edfac.usyd.edu.au) is a lecturer at
the Prof. Dr. Hamka Muhammadiyah University's school of
education. The views expressed are his own.