The government’s plan to establish “international standard” programs at state-run schools is a waste of money, since regular programs are already in dire need of improvement, education experts say.
“I think Indonesia is in a state of confusion — everything from hospitals to schools is going international,” education expert HAR Tilaar said.
Indonesia had been swept away by waves of globalization and the education system had strayed from “national” standards, imitating curriculum of international schools, such as Cambridge.
Another educational expert, Soedijarto, said improving the quality of education did not mean Indonesia needed to adopt “international” standards.
“For example, to improve students’ English skills could be done by teaching these classes in English rather than in Indonesian. The government should also improve teachers’ proficiency — this does not have to be ‘international’,” he said.
The introduction of international-standard programs would widen disparities between students of different economic backgrounds, he said. “It’s expensive to run international standard programs. Poor students could not afford them,” Soedijarto said.
The government has been encouraging local administrations to develop international-standard schools. A 2010 government regulation on education, for example, stipulates that municipal and regency administrations provide at least one international-standard primary and secondary school.
It also stipulates that authorities should facilitate at least one community-driven international-standard primary and secondary school.
Currently, state schools are categorized as regular schools, model schools, national standard schools (SSN), international standard pilot-project schools (RSBI) or international standard schools, which use a curriculum that meets national and developing countries’ standards.
Model schools are those in process of becoming national standard schools, which are equipped with qualified teachers, adequate school facilities and have a solid academic records. RSBI schools are those striving to reach international status.
More categories for private schools include “international” schools run by foreign countries, “international” schools run by private institutions, and “national plus” schools which use the local curriculum enriched with those used in other (primarily western) countries.
Tilaar said the government should refrain from spending large amounts to get schools to “international” status when there were plenty of substandard schools needing assistance.
“They are talking about international schools, but when we go to regions [outside cities] there are so many schools that are in a sorry state … there are major discrepancies between the quality of education offered in these areas [and that available in cities],” he said.
Deputy National Education Minister Fasli Jalal said the funding channeled to help certain schools achieve “international” standards was peanuts compared to that channeled to assist substandard schools.
“Most of our funding goes to regular schools. It’s just that there are so many of them that the channeled funds appear small, but there are far less RSBI schools,” he said.
Fasli said the ministry was working to improve substandard schools and increase the number of international standard schools. (dis)
