Jakarta,
Jan 15 (ANTARA) - Education and Culture Minister Muhammad Nuh is
conducting a program to introduce School Curriculum 2013 across the
country before its implementation in the next academic year.
However, many legislators, academics and educators have stated that the
plan to replace the current School Curriculum 2006 with a new one
should not be implemented until a comprehensive study, involving
research, analysis and evaluation, is carried out.
"The implementation of School Curriculum 2013 is important and urgent,
so all sides should be well-informed of it," Nuh said while promoting
the new curriculum in Semarang, Central Java, on Sunday.
The minister was introducing the curriculum to about 350 university
rectors, education and cultural officials, school principals and
teachers. He had earlier conducted similar activities in Jambi
(Sumatra), Parung (West Java) and Tengerang (Banten).
Nuh noted that a new curriculum was necessary in light of the global challenges facing the country.
In view of the rising number of global challenges, Indonesian children
must have a curriculum that would make them more capable of overcoming
such challenges.
"School Curriculum 2013 will help students increase their competence by
developing in them a mature attitude, along with more skills and
knowledge," the minister said, adding that Indonesian children must
'improve in the fields of creativity and innovation so they can face
their future bravely'.
Besides
improving their competence, the curriculum will also help students
build their mathematical abilities, stimulate their creativity, and
familiarize them with data management.
Nuh
stated that his ministry would continue to raise awareness of the new
curriculum among teachers across the country. "We are introducing the
new curriculum and are conducting training programs for it," he said.
The
minister pointed out that the new curriculum would be implemented
during the 2013-14 academic year, or next July. The new curriculum will
be implemented in grades one to four in elementary schools (SD), grade
one in junior high schools (SMP), and grade one in senior high schools
(SMA).
He said the nation's teachers were ready to implement School Curriculum
2013. "We learnt while promoting the curriculum in Tangerang, Banten
province, that teachers are now ready to implement the new education
curriculum," the minister explained.
But some critics said the education and culture ministry's efforts to
implement the new curriculum gave the impression that the ministry was
forcing its will on the rest of the nation.
"I
have been asking the minister to submit an evaluation report on the
current curriculum to the working committee of the House. In principle,
the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission X on education affairs
supports the change of the curriculum for the improvement of education
in the country but it should be done after comprehensive research and
assessment," said Herlini Amran, a member of the House's Commission X.
She stated that Commission X held a working meeting on Thursday with
the minister, who explained the results of a public survey conducted on
Curriculum 2013. The minister, Herlini said, conducted the survey
through virtual and face-to-face dialogues.
"Yet the validity
of the survey is still questionable. The minister did not reveal the
results of the survey through written questionnaires sent to
universities, social institutions and education observers," Herlini
pointed out.
"The results of the survey are not valid because they virtually
contradict the opinion of the people in the field," she explained.
"The survey shows considerable contradictions. I was surprised to hear
from the minister that the results of the survey supported the
implementation of Curriculum 2013," Herlini noted.
The lawmaker pointed out that the methodology of the survey was also not revealed.
Therefore, many think the survey was conducted only to make the ministry's plan look legitimate, she continued.
"It is difficult to decide on the validity of such a survey. Many
parties are of the view that the survey was actually a formality, the
reality being a coercion of will," Herlini stated.
She said when she made visits to various regions last month to assess
public opinion on the implementation of the government's new curriculum,
many people expressed concerns over the implementation of School
Curriculum 2013.
"Many
people, in this case, teachers, school management, parents, journalists
and others asked whether the government had carried out the necessary
research before formulating the new curriculum," Herlina noted.
"The government should take inputs from universities and other higher
education institutions in written forms in order to produce a
comprehensive and qualified result," she added.
Meanwhile,
Totok Amin Soefijanto, the deputy rector for academic and research
department of the University of Paramadina, also said there was an
impression that the education and culture ministry was forcing its will
on the rest of the nation by replacing Curriculum 2006 with Curriculum
2013.
"It seems the ministry is in a hurry to change the curriculum. A
curriculum cannot be changed all of a sudden without evaluation of the
old one," he pointed out.
"The whole thing involves a long process, which involves evaluation of
the old curriculum as well in order to explore its weaknesses," Totok
explained.
"The weakness of the old curriculum would become a basis for working
out a new one. A new curriculum cannot be one hundred percent new and
effective if it is not based on the results of an evaluation," he said.
Totok stated that changes to the school curriculum should be made very
carefully because it concerned the fate of millions of children in the
country.
"A new curriculum cannot be introduced without even asking the public
whether they approve of it or not," he added.***4***
(T.A014/INE/S012)
(T.A014/A/KR-BSR/S012) 15-01-2013 20:42: |
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