By Mario Masaya
Last weekend`s National Education Day should give us all pause to consider the state of education in Indonesia.
The unfortunate truth, however, is that even in a time of political campaigning, education is an issue largely missing from the national dialogue. Political parties and presidential candidates tend to avoid it in favor of issues like the economy, good governance and corruption.
I am not suggesting that the economic sector is not a prominent source of worry for all Indonesians; it`s perhaps the most important. But our view of education is in need of change.
Fareed Zakaria argued in his book, The Post-American World, that education expenditures in most countries are seen as the consumption of the state`s budget. In fact, education functions more like savings. The United States` prosperity is certainly due to both its education system and culture.
Our education system today will determine Indonesia`s future in the next 20 years. If our political leaders do not adopt education as one of their main priorities, the country`s future will always be relegated to survival mode — surviving but always left behind — and politicians will continue their refrain of generic promises for “free or fewer fees for education,” which rarely come into effect. I doubt many of today`s candidates can identify the core problems with our education system.
What is actually wrong with education in Indonesia?
I recently was at the Harvard National Model United Nations 2009 and met many brilliant students from around the world. Most Indonesian students, myself included, cannot compete with them. Not in their speed of thought, analytical skills or attention to detail. One of the students I met had actually gone to the Middle East to study the region`s conflict, becoming proficient in Arabic in the process.
Spending a few days with these people really made me lose my confidence. I started asking just what was wrong with Indonesia; why couldn`t I compete with them? The answers I found stem from both the culture and practice of education in our country.
I believe there are two main reasons why Indonesians are not part of the global academic elite. First, education culture. A culture of reading has not developed here; people from all classes of society, especially children, tend to watch television rather than read. In the United States, newspapers are ubiquitous and inexpensive. Americans also tend to read wherever they are, be it in lines, on the train, etc.
In Indonesia, by contrast, we have a lazy reading culture, caused in part by the expensive price tag of books here. A book that I purchased in the United States for about $15 costs twice that amount in Jakarta — expensive enough that most Indonesians can`t afford it.
Second, our education system tends to focus on teaching the wrong things. This is a holdover from the New Order, which was full of doctrines. The presentation of topics such as “Ketahanan Negara,” Pancasila and others are pretty much the same as they used to be, despite the fact that such topics are of debatable importance for students majoring in, say, English literature, information science or business management.
Still, we`re forced to study those subjects from elementary school through university. One of my friends at an Australian university only studies about three topics each semester, whereas I study about 8 to 10. Besides this, my classes are all broadly focused; none delve deep into any area of specialization.
Lack of human resources and reading materials are the main reasons we study those broad and unimportant topics. There are very few expert lecturers, and specialized study materials are difficult to come by.
Taking into account the importance of fostering a culture of education, the candidates for the presidential election in July should focus more on the future of education in Indonesia. Rather than making speculative moves about who is partnering with whom or worrying too much about the algebra of coalitions, I would urge them to think about how to promote development in the education sector. In this way, Indonesia`s future can be safeguarded.
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Mario Masaya is a student of international relations at Parahyangan Catholic University.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com (6 May 2009)