Wardiman says his extensive overseas trip was instructive

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said his recent extensive overseas trip was chiefly for educational purposes to learn about how other countries manage their education system.

Wardiman in the last two months traveled to several European countries, the United States and Asian countries, so extensive that it raised questions from members of the House of Representatives when he held a hearing with them on Thursday.

His most recent trip which ended earlier this week included a two-week visit to the United States and to the research centers belonging to member countries of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO).

While in the U.S., Wardiman said, he was interested in Washington's plan to involve parents -- especially of single- parent families -- in the education of their children.

In the Netherlands, he said he was mesmerized by the country's successful "link and match" program between the education system and the agricultural industry.

"The dual system we're implementing here will not be an exact duplicate of theirs, because we have different working ethos," he said.

SEAMEO, established in 1965, has 12 research centers in nine countries -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Indonesia currently presides over the organization.

Three research centers in Thailand are studying higher education teaching systems, archeology and tropical medicine. The two in Malaysia are researching tropical medicine and science and mathematics. The sole center in Singapore is observing teaching of the English language. Two SEAMEO centers in Indonesia are observing tropical medicine and tropical biology, the one in Brunei is studying vocational technology and three in the Philippines are studying school curriculum development, tropical medicine and agriculture.

Although most of the centers are functioning well, Wardiman said the organization still relies heavily on donor countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and Japan, whose aid has been declining over the years.

He suggested SEAMEO members use their respective skills to establish a market and generate their own incomes.

Trips to Germany and Japan earlier this year, he said, were aimed at exploring possibilities of obtaining aid for educational programs while a meeting with the World Bank several months ago resulted in a number of agreements, including those on more effective funding methods through integrated programs.(pwn)