T

he education system in Indonesia is not the best thing we have, but I don'€™t like the way many people have generalized and underestimated Indonesian students. Surely, many don'€™t know enough about the achievements of Indonesian students.

I give you some facts about our students that perhaps many of us ignore. Indonesian students won two gold medals at the International Junior Science Olympiad 2014 in Mendoza, Argentina, on Dec. 11. In fact, in the last 20 years young Indonesian students have taken 110 gold medals, 91 silver and 136 bronze, and the numbers continue to increase at this world competition in science.

In 2015, Indonesian students won the top honors at an international science competition in Jakarta, beating high school students from 23 other countries. Students from Indonesia took home 14 medals '€” six gold, four silver and four bronze '€” during the first International Science Project Olympiad (ISPro). Don'€™t forget, last year, In WUDC 2014, Rajalakshmi Engineering College, India, Indonesia won the title of EFL Champions represented by Institut Teknologi Bandung students Fauzan Reza Maulana and Vicario Reinaldo.

Many may underestimate me as a teacher and that is no problem, but they cannot underestimate my beloved students.

Moreover, education is not competition; education is a process that rises from one stair to another. The word '€œeducation'€ is derived from the Latin word educatio (A breeding, a bringing up, a rearing) from educo (I educate, I train, I lead forth, I take out; I raise up, I erect). We help students to increase their capability, competency, characteristics and personality based on their talents, not by simply comparing them with other students abroad. That'€™s an unfair judgement.

Gregdaru
Jakarta

1. It'€™s true Indonesia won a number of gold medals at the Science Olympiads, but in reality other countries won hundreds of gold medals too.

At these Science Olympiads (of various types '€” physics, math, chemistry, etc.), medals are awarded based on scores. A certain score automatically wins a participant a gold medal; a lower score, a silver medal; and lower still, bronze.

Therefore, while winning gold medals seems impressive, Indonesia was not necessarily the champion country, not even in Southeast Asia alone: Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam did better overall. Worldwide, China, Singapore, USA, Russia, Japan and South Korea are the regular champions.

2. Participants at the Science Olympiads are usually specially prepared and selected high school students, the top students as it were.

While at the top level Indonesian students were not the champions (in terms of most gold medals won at the Science Olympiads), at the average level (taking into account students from places such as Papua and other poorer districts) the showing was more dismal.

In the last triennial Program for International Students Assessment (PISA) conducted by the OECD, on 15-year-old students'€™ reading and math competency, Indonesia was placed 64th out of 65 countries.

Wandering Star
Jakarta