Learning the hard way

Sat, 05/02/2009 10:42 PM  |  Opinion

Today, millions of students and teachers are commemorating National Education Day. It has been 50 years since Indonesia's "Father of Education", Ki Hadjar Dewantara, whose birthday is honored to pay tribute to our education system, passed away. The education system, however, is still far from reaching his vision.

Just this week our junior high school students finished the National Final Examinations (UAN) - claimed by the Education Ministry as the "benchmark" it uses to standardize the education system in Indonesia. Last week, senior high school students also sat the UAN, and elementary school students will sit them before the end of May.

The exams, despite much controversy surrounding them, are indeed the best way to raise the bar for students across the archipelago. But is it fair to have a standardized test while the education system and conditions remain far from standard? Is it fair, for example, to ask the same questions to students in Jakarta as those asked to their friends in Maluku?

It is saddening that the UAN is the final determinant of our children's abilities, especially when they have spent years studying numerous subjects but their graduation is based on their results in three to six subjects alone (depending on their level of education).

With multiple subjects, homework and tests, students barely have time to really think about and absorb the subjects they take. Because parents also demand their children excel in English, Science and Mathematics, many students fail to enjoy the fun of learning and going to school. Many are burdened with academic activities which, unfortunately, sideline literature, arts and sports. They are drilled on multiple choice questions and get only a tiny dose of essay writing that leads them to memorize facts instead of understanding subjects comprehensively, and does not teach them how to structure an argument in writing.

When Dewantara established his Taman Siswa school in Yogyakarta on July 3, 1922, he emphasized that education should help the country advance without discrimination. He dreamed of students who knew, understood and put into practice what they had learned.

Stiff competition among students and schools (not to mention competition within our workforce with neighboring countries) has created an unnecessary burden on our children's shoulders. They have been taught that in any subject to fail is unacceptable.

The situation is made worse when teachers drill their students after school prior to the UAN, hoping to avoid less than 100 percent of their students passing. In some cases, teachers give clues to their students to help them answer UAN questions. In the end, their actions sacrifice their students education and comes at the expense of their morality.

It is never too late to change, for the sake of the country, for the next generation. Whoever the president and education minister are, we hope the government adopts a more serious approach to improving the education system, to produce leaders that can make Indonesia a better country in every way.

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