Trade Ministry ‘needs reform’ — not better TOEFL scores: Experts

Experts are criticizing the Trade Ministry’s plan to require some employees to score a minimum of 600 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), saying it may increase the anxiety of government workers.

Andrinof Chaniago, a public policy expert at the University of Indonesia, said that the proposal would put extra pressure on employees.

“They would also have to ask themselves what would happen to their careers if they failed to meet the target,” Andrinof said on Wednesday as quoted by tempo.co.

Andrinof said that the Trade Ministry and several other ministries were in need of immediate bureaucratic reform, not better TOEFL scores.

“There are so many problems [and] legacies from the past,” he said.

Andrinof said that it was more feasible to implement the proposal at Bank Indonesia or the Finance Ministry.

“It’s just too difficult for the Trade Ministry.”

The proposal was announced as part of plans to better prepare the Trade Ministry for the challenges of the global economy.

The new trade minister, Gita Wirjawan, said that the ministry wanted 1,000 of its 3,000 employees to meet the new benchmark in 2012, and would hire English teachers to teach officials at echelon II and below before or after work hours.

“I applied such a program when I was at the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board [BKPM] and it was a success,” Gita said on Monday.

He added that 258 of 580 BKPM employees scored higher than 600 on the TOEFL in 2011.

The ministry also plans to boost the number of its employees with master’s degrees and doctorates to 1,500.

University of Indonesia communications expert Ade Armando criticized Gita’s plan, saying the minimum score proposed by the ministry was “way too high” for civil servants.

“We could understand it if such a requirement was set by the Foreign Ministry, because the ministry’s employees are often required to communicate with foreigners as part of their jobs,” Ade said on Wednesday.

Ade said he doubted if a high TOEFL score would be of any use for officials.

“Should the Trade Ministry really have such requirements? In fact, not too many of its officials go abroad and deal with foreigners,” he added.

Ade suggested that the minimum score requirement not be applied to all civil servants at the ministry, perhaps focusing on employees who deal with foreigners or lobby international bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“A TOEFL score of 550 should be an acceptable standard [for the ministry],” Ade said.

English remains the favorite foreign language in Indonesia due to the increasing use of English in the office and in daily life, according to experts.

According to a 1997 British Council report, 80 percent of all information is delivered in English, 1.5 billion people worldwide use English and 1 billion people are learning the language.

The use of English is increasingly common.

Banners and advertisements use English words, English-language music and films are consumed and many people incorporate English words into their daily conversations.

Trade Ministry spokesman Frank Kandou said that the policy would help the ministry’s officials in their interaction with foreigners in international conferences.

He said that an improved skill in English would increase Indonesia’s stature in the world.

“Countries such as Singapore, China and Brazil, all have officials with excellent [English] skill in international conferences,” Frank said.

He said that civil servants at the ministry in fact responded positively to the plan.