English to re-enter Indonesian classrooms
The 2012 decision to scrap English as a compulsory subject
in Indonesian elementary schools is to
be reversed. Materials and advice are likely to be sourced from the
Philippines.
The move comes after widespread criticism of teaching
programs and practices following the release two years ago of results through the
OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Indonesia ranked 62 out of the 72 nations
surveyed. Nine years ago it was 57.
Education and Culture Minister Dr Muhadjir Effendy (above) told Strategic Review that
pilot projects in teaching English would start in several provinces next year.
“English is the global language and it’s essential that
Indonesian students are properly equipped to enter the workplaces of the
future,” he said.
“However this is not going to be easy to implement. We need more specialist teachers and
teaching materials. We are still
working on the details, but I hope it can be introduced in the students’ early
years when minds are still flexible.
This is the optimal time.”
Six years ago the then deputy Education Minister Musliar
Kasim announced a curriculum revamp which dumped English in favor of the
national language, Bahasa Indonesia.
After public protests English was allowed back in - though
only as an elective. It was also argued
at the time that forcing youngsters to learn English made their workload
excessive.
The original decision was also seen as a reaction to rising
nationalism. Flag-wavers asked why
students should spend time on English in the fourth largest country with its
own tongue.
The world’s most commonly spoken languages are various forms
of Chinese, followed by Spanish, English, Hindi and Arabic.
Bahasa Indonesia is seldom heard outside lower Southeast
Asia. Originally Trade Malay, it was imposed to unify the nation after
independence from Dutch colonial rule was declared in 1945. The 2010 census recorded 43 million ‘native
speakers’ of Bahasa Indonesia; 156 million considered it their second tongue.
The Minister said 760 local and other languages were still
used and these had to be recognized. He said he had persuaded his colleagues
that re-starting English would not dilute the national identity.
Effendy was appointed minister in July last year to replace
Dr Anies Baswedan who shortly after taking office in 2014 described the
nation’s education system as facing an ‘emergency’. Under his watch enrolments improved through payments to the poor
for their children to attend school.
According to Professor Andrew
Rosser of Melbourne University who has been researching Indonesian education,
‘children are starting
school earlier and staying in education longer than they ever have before. But
Indonesia has made much less progress in improving the quality and learning
outcomes.’
Despite Baswedan’s achievements President Joko ‘Jokowi’
Widodo sacked the ambitious minister when he was seen as a political
threat. He is now Governor of Jakarta.
Effendy, 61, is considered a technocrat with no known
political allegiances. The former
Rector of Muhammadiyah University in Malang did post-graduate studies in
military sociology in the US and Canada.
His wife Suryan Widati is also an academic.
“There needs to be a recognition of the value of English in
subjects like science and mathematics,” said Effendy. “These are taught everywhere often using symbols and terms that
are different from those used in Indonesia.
“It’s important that students don’t just learn English but
also know how to use it and have the necessary confidence.
“Many (Muslim) students study Arabic and can chant sentences
from Al Koran - but they don’t know what the words mean. Methodologies have to
change. We need teachers and techniques
to help students analyze.”
He said his Ministry was looking to the Philippines for
books and teachers. Although Filipino
is the national language in the adjacent nation, English is widely taught and
used. Between 1901 and 1935 the
Philippines was administered by the United States.
UNESCO claims the PISA tests conducted every three years
“provide evidence to policymakers about the knowledge and skills of students in
their own countries in comparison with those in other countries … it can help
countries to learn from policies and practices applied elsewhere.”
The PISA tests’ top five are Singapore, Japan, Estonia,
Taipei and Finland.
Rosser argues that Indonesia’s poor education performance has ‘at its
root, been a matter of politics and power. Change in the quality of Indonesia’s
education system thus depends on a shift in the balance of power between
competing coalitions that have a stake in the nature of education policy and
its implementation’.
Effendy
acknowledged the difficulty in persuading politicians and bureaucrats to accept
reforms. All once attended schools so
as adults see themselves as experts; it’s a hazard faced by professional
educational change-makers throughout the world.
He also
wants to scrap the annual national exam but has hit barriers manned by
diehards. Last year the exams, which were widely slandered for failing to
measure quality and reports of cheating, were suspended by Effendy, and then
reinstalled by the President.
Indonesia has more than 55
million children in 250,000 schools.
They are taught by around three million teachers. According to Hamid
Muhammad, Director of Teachers in the Ministry, the public school teacher
shortfall is more than 700,000.
A study
commissioned by the Indonesian Network for Education Watch (JPPI) claims three
strategic issues need addressing - teacher quality, child-unfriendly
schools and discrimination against marginalized groups.
Effendy agreed that quality in public schools remained a
concern. “I have often seen that teaching in Catholic schools is better,” he
said. “Perhaps this is because students are encouraged to be critical, to ask
questions and not see teachers as having all the knowledge.
“We spend a lot of time just teaching to pass tests without
students understanding why.
“The other difficulty we have is in servicing schools in the
distant provinces where few teachers want to work. Classroom building costs in remote areas can be more than three
times higher than in Java.”
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http://sr-indonesia.com/read/English-to-re-enter-Indonesian-classrooms
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