RI students find debating, writing a challenge

Education practitioners say the ability to think critically, more than financial prowess and English-language aptitude, is the core success factor for overseas Indonesian university and high school students.

Mick Davies, Senior Pathways manager for Education First (EF) University Preparation, said Indonesian students possessed the capability to think critically but were culturally unaccustomed to express these thoughts to argue critically — an imperative skill reputable universities expect.

“We have communication issues because there is a tendency to avoid conflict,” he said at an education-related event held by EF and the British Council in Jakarta on Friday. “They don’t think it is the right thing to do,” said Davies, who has counseled Indonesian students as well as other foreign students who aim to and have entered Britain’s Cambridge University.

“The teachers [in Indonesia] I meet are good and decent, as well as committed to what they do,” he said. “They do what’s right for Indonesia but that may not be right for global education.”

He added that learning English through language courses offered by study centers across Indonesia would not suffice in gaining enrollment to top tier universities in Britain. To succeed, a student must grasp how the language intricately operates, which can be honed through reading, he said. “The problem that Indonesians have is adjusting from a language that is a functional one to a language that is complex,” he continued, adding that this made writing markedly difficult.

Claudia Trew, International Baccalaureate (IB) coordinator and principal for Education First International Academy in New York, a school that prepares foreign school students for university, said that non-native English language learners, especially from Asia, faced challenges speaking in English. “I think they probably write better than they speak,” she said, adding that European students faced the opposite challenge. She added that it was important for high school students to develop their skills in thinking and essay writing, which they would face at US universities.

She further said that foreign high school students chose to study at the school, which has fees set at US$36,000 per year, although similar preparation programs were available in their home country as it helped smooth the path to US universities. “They get a New York high school diploma in addition to an IB diploma.” (gzl)