To say that schools fail us is a little ironic, but we cannot get rid of this assumption based on the evidence that most educational institutions in Indonesia cannot help students reach the places they are envisioned to be. For instance, I earned my degree in international relations from a famous private university in Bandung. It would be understandable that the most famous alumnus should be a diplomat. Yet the faculty consistently promotes one shoe designer and a comedian as the primary examples of their success in education. It does not mean we undermine any profession, but the fact that international relations schools are not very successful in producing successful diplomats or activists is alarming.
The unsystematic education
The major reason schools are not effective is that the school system itself is not systematic enough: people who have graduated from elementary school, for example, do not have certain qualities that make it easier for them to study in junior high school. Most of the teachers I know complain about how often they need to repeat the lesson to their new students. It is no longer about intellectual capacity; we have a serious issue in our failure to transform the lessons and make them acquire the skills.
Some of my fellow trainers and educators mentioned that we might be able to create scaffolding for a short-term program (one month to one year max.), but the national educational system requires a commitment of at least 17 years. They mention that the amount needed is obviously extravagant, and there is no promise that the results will be noticeable in five or ten years.
“The government should understand that they should have programs for at least the next twenty-five years. However, the government tends to launch a program with clear results in five years, since that is when they jump into the campaign. Having a program that has results in twenty-five years is considered not politically wise. Who will be in power in the next twenty-five years? If the opposition is there, then they can claim everything as their success, which is the last thing that whoever is in power expects,” said one of my anonymous colleagues.
Political Wise in Our Problematic Education
Politicisation is a huge obstacle to our educational reformation now. The government would choose to distribute free meals, though there are flaws in the implementation. “At least kids are full,” my friend jokingly told me. “What if the government re-standardised teachers? What if several schools need major investment or are closed down? The government will face a political crisis, something that they need to avoid since they need stability, since economic and political crises are often considered more justified as a clear and present danger rather than an educational crisis.”
“It is funny to think like this, but if they make mistakes now—and yes, they are—the result will be seen in twenty-five years when the opposition is in power. The regime can now use this phenomenon to scapegoat them. So, in short, letting our national educational system be flawed like this right now is a better choice rather than to do something that we cannot enjoy in twenty-five years,” said my friend.
Realising this, no wonder that our educational system is not a good investment. And that is why a customised educational plan that is centred on children’s talents is more beneficial.
