Wardiman says lack of schools hinders education
Wardiman says lack of schools hinders education
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman
Djojonegoro identified a number of problems besetting national
education last year, including the shortage of classrooms and
facilities.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, Wardiman said six-
million children could not attend junior high school due to the
shortage of school buildings. In addition, one million children
could not enter elementary schools for the same reason, he said.
Wardiman pledged that the government would work hard so that
by the end of the next three Five-year Development Plan periods
there would be schools available to all children.
President Soeharto launched the Nine-Year Compulsory Schooling
scheme in May 1994. The program is considered rather ambitious
because there aren't enough schools or teachers in Indonesia to
serve the students.
The government, however, was optimistic that the program would
succeed as did the Six-year Compulsory Schooling scheme launched
in 1984.
Yesterday, Wardiman detailed various education problems
arising from the school building shortage. Because one classroom
has to accommodate around 40 students, rather than the ideal
number of 25, teachers are often unable to give children enough
attention during the learning process.
Wardiman acknowledged that there were other conditions which
prevented teachers from giving students their full attention.
Among the factors were the teachers' notoriously low salaries.
"Teachers often have to moonlight, taking other jobs besides
teaching, in order to support their families," Wardiman said.
Looking ahead, Wardiman said he expected to see an increase
this year in public awareness of the importance of education,
taking the form of more investment in the education sector.
"I invite the public to invest more in our education sector,
especially for the construction of more schools in the country,"
Wardiman said.
Wardiman also said that the government cannot provide all of
the funds needed for national education by itself, but failed to
specify the amount of investment needed to give all children
learning opportunities.
In a related announcement yesterday, Director General for
Higher Education Bambang Soehendro spoke of the government's
program to upgrade the State Teachers Training and Education
Institute (IKIP) and change its status into university.
Programs at the institute usually take four years or eight
semesters, while universities provide longer periods of learning,
more disciplines and research and development opportunities.
"We are planning to improve the quality of IKIP and its
graduates, so they won't have any difficulty finding work in
fields other than teaching," Bambang told reporters.
He said that negotiations with the World Bank, to provide
US$100 million to finance the project, have reached the final
stage. The program is expected to commence within four to five
years. (31)