Jakarta - Despite Indonesia‘s drop in the global education rankings, the brilliance of its students kept shining through in a number of regional and international science competitions in 2007.
Indonesian students have won gold medals in the International Physics, Biology and Astronomy Olympics as well as the Asian Physics Olympics.
Others found success at the International Conference of Young Scientists, Chemistry Olympics and Informatics Olympics.
This shows Indonesia‘s students are just as good as those from other countries, especially in the sciences.
A recent report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), however, concluded that the country‘s educational performance had dropped. Its education development index was 0.935, placing it 62nd out of 130 countries, down from 58 last year.
Indonesia ranked lower than Malaysia (56) and Brunei Darussalam (43), but higher than some other Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam (79), the Philippines (82), and Cambodia (103).
Indonesia‘s drop in global performance was due to the relatively low level of funding its educational institutions receive from public spending or international financing. The report categorized Indonesia‘s education expenditure as less than 3 percent of its GNP.
The government‘s failure to allocate 20 percent of the state budget for education, as required by the 1945 Constitution, remained controversial.
Next year‘s education budget, which will increase to Rp 61.4 trillion (US$6.6 billion) from Rp 52.4 trillion, represents only 12.4 percent of the government‘s total spending.
The government does not count teachers‘ salaries as part of the education budget, in accordance with the law.
National Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo maintains the education budget should spent on material items such as school buildings and text books, not salaries.
Instead, teachers are paid as civil servants. This policy has somewhat weakened teachers‘ hopes of receiving a significant salary increase.
The Constitutional Court has questioned this policy, asking why the government should not include teachers‘ salaries in the education budget to help fulfill the 20 percent obligation.
The minister argued that the government initially intended to increase spending on schools by not paying teachers‘ salaries from the education budget.
He added that teachers would get an bonus of one month‘s salary once they had passed certain certification tests, as stipulated under the 2005 Law on Teachers and Lecturers.
If the law were amended to include teachers‘ salaries -- totaling around Rp 30 trillion -- the government‘s spending on education would total 17.5 percent.
Education experts say the constitutional obligation is absolute and non-negotiable.
On National Teachers Day, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged to promote all temporary teachers as civil servants. During 2007, some 351,505 temporary teachers were promoted.
Acknowledging their low standard of living, the President asked teachers nationwide not to hold demonstrations to fight for better livelihoods.
With the increase in the education budget, he promised to continue the government‘s school operational assistance program and scholarships for poor students. He also pledged to continue sending money to local governments to rehabilitate schools and purchase educational equipment.
The government has also encouraged provincial administrations nationwide to prioritize education by focusing more on schooling children from low-income families and upgrading their school buildings.
Education is often viewed as a short-term cost, rather than a long-term investment in the country‘s citizens.
Many people also fail to grasp the importance of educational quality. Some can afford a good education without considering the cost. But poor families in rural areas often feel it is good enough to send their children to any kind of school.
The government also continues to face mounting criticism for using the national final exam as the only factor to determine whether students graduate, rather than considering their overall performance.
Many have called the exam "terror for teachers, students and parents" and a violation of the principles of the 2003 Law on the National Education System. Supporters have said the exam is aimed at increasing the quality of education.
The controversy has been intensified by cheating. Teachers and students have reportedly sold exam materials and circulated exam answers through text messages. But the education minister maintained such incidents did not jeopardize the credibility of the test.
He argued this year‘s national exam was better than last year‘s. He said the changes would be permanent, including a higher passing grade, to 5.25 from the current 4.75, and the addition of three subjects.
At a recent forum of the Indonesian Teachers Conference, educators nationwide said they were not behind the rest of the world in their knowledge of educational methodology. They said what they lacked was support from all levels of society.
Experts, however, said Indonesian teachers were not upholding professional standards. They added that teacher certification works better as an instrument of selection rather than a way to improve teacher quality.
Source : www.thejakartapost.com (27 Desember 2007)