Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – New government policy, which overhauls the controversial 2013 school curriculum, has drawn criticism from education stakeholders, claiming Indonesia's education ministry has rushed the decision.
Bengkulu Governor Junaidi Hamsyah said the suspended curriculum, also known as K-13, as well as the revival of the old 2006 curriculum, has resulted in confusion, especially among teachers in the regions.
"We demand an explanation from the minister about the re-implementation of the 2006 curriculum that so teachers in the regions won't get confused in performing their duties," Junaidi said on Tuesday.
"This happened because the ministry called off the curriculum suddenly, but without any clear solution. I hope the minister will settle this matter in the near future," he added.
But schools in Semarang, Central Java, said they would continue with the 2013 curriculum.
"So far, we're still using [the 2013 curriculum]. We're still waiting for written instruction from the education ministry," the head of Semarang's education agency, Bunyamin told Indonesian news portal Liputan6.com on Wednesday.
"Besides, we're also in the middle of school exams, so we won't change anything yet." He added that 45 public and private schools in the Central Java capital were implementing the curriculum.
Education Minister Anies Baswedan last week instructed the suspension of the 2013 curriculum, pending an overhaul of the content. The curriculum has drawn much criticism as it eliminates sciences, English and social studies for elementary schools, replacing them with additional hours for Indonesian language, national ideology and Islamic studies.
Education academics and experts have argued that this would be detrimental to Indonesian students, making them less competitive on an international level. Anies said 6,326 schools across the country have adopted the curriculum since 2013, while others have only been following it for one semester.
Schools that have already implemented the controversial system are encouraged to continue the program, while those who are still new to it are allowed to revert back to their previous methodology.
According to Anies, to abruptly change the routine of the 6,326 schools that have followed the 2013 curriculum since its inception would only be disruptive to their students' studies. As many as 20,779 schools, meanwhile, have yet to adopt the latest curriculum, and they have been told to stick with the old curriculum.
"The bottom line is that we still want to develop the curriculum, but we do not want to include all schools in Indonesia in the pilot project," Anies said last Friday. "We'll fix the curriculum and then implement it, not the other way around."
Former education minister Mohammad Nuh defended his legacy, slamming Anies's decision and calling it a setback for Indonesia's education sector.
"If technical issues are found [with the 2013 curriculum], the first thing to do is to find a solution to fix the problems," Nuh told state-run Antara on Sunday. "There are substantial flaws with the [old curriculum], and more technical preparations are needed to re-implement it."
The technical issues, Nuh added, include re-training teachers to teach the old curriculum, when they have been mostly trained to teach the 2013 one. He also claimed, citing evaluation figures, that average teachers' comprehension of the 2013 curriculum was much better than of the 2006 one.
Anies countered by saying, "there has never been an explanation as to why the 2006 curriculum must be terminated. Where are the documents [to prove that]?"
Education experts back Anies's decision, saying it is necessary to evaluate and revise the 2013 curriculum, given the high public resistance against it, before the government can find the best formula.
Totok Amin Soegijanto, deputy president of Paramadina University, where Anies was the president before taking over the ministerial job, pointed out that the 2013 curriculum had never undergone a public trial.
"One of the best things to assess whether a policy is appropriate or not is to firstly launch it through a public trial. But this has never been done with the curriculum," Totok said.
Continued implementation of the curriculum in the aforementioned more than 6,000 schools is a "necessary experiment," part of the process to introduce the content gradually to schools, in order to prevent negative impacts on learning process in schools, he added.
"There is possible room for errors with the suspension. But with the experiment, the government will be able to see which part [of the curriculum] is better and which parts must be eliminated," Totok said. "This is the way it should be."
Mohammad Abduhzen of the Institute for Education Reform echoed Totok's sentiment, saying that full implementations of the curriculum must be postponed, pending a thorough revision.
"The revision should not only concern books or how to improve teaching quality. There must be also be improvements in its substance, operations and implementation," Abduhzen said. "Additionally, our education system must be free from any political interest and corrupt practices.
"The school curriculum must be well-prepared, through well-established process and public trial," he added.
The public has lamented Indonesia's education system, in which school curricula and other central education policies continue to change along with changes in the administration. The changes often have little to do with quality improvements.
Totok said a national blueprint was needed to ensure a more fixed education system, with guaranteed quality. He suggested that national education think tanks gather and conduct in-depth research together in order to create this blueprint.
"To create a blueprint, in-depth and massive research is required. An education system that was not born from good research will only lead us to continued uncertainties," Totok said.
"Good research is a must to create methodologies that will be applied in every school in a country. "A good education policy cannot be made without good research."
Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesias-curriculum-needs-study-experts/