In our rush to reform education, we have forgotten a
simple truth: reform will never be achieved by renewing appropriations,
restructuring schools, rewriting curricula, and revising texts, if we continue
to demean and dishearten the human resource called the teacher on whom so much
depends (Palmer, 1998)
In the last few months or so the education in
Indonesia again stuck on the old debate on curriculum, especially when the new
government decided to stop the implementation of Curriculum 2013 (K13) which
has just launched at the end of the SBY administration. Although the
implementation of the pilot program of the new curriculum in 6221 schools still
continues, the dismissal of the implementation in all non pilot schools still
trigger wide polemics.
Some deplore the attitude of the Ministry of
Basic Education and Culture who seemed to be in hurry in making such a big
decision; but on the other hand, the government argues that many schools and
teachers seem to have a lack of preparation to run the K13. In addition, there
has been no comprehensive study on why Curriculum 2006 should be replaced.
Therefore, the new government assumed that the Curriculum 2006 was still fit
for use.
I do not intend to continue the debate on
whether to continue K-13 or re-use the 2006 curriuclum, as the decision has
been taken place. This article is intended to remind the government and
education policy makers in Indonesia not to spend too much energy on the debate
about what kind of curriculum that we shall use.
Polemics about the curriculum should not make
us forget one important thing to be taken seriously in order to improve the
quality of national education, which is how we could constantly prepare
qualified prospective teachers. At the end, we have to admit that, as the
strong quote from Palmer (1998) on the epigraphs, education reform will never
succeed if we only focused on techincal issues such as school restructuring
program or rewrite the curriculum. No matter how great the curriculum, it will
never run well in the field if it is not supported by qualified teachers. Yes,
because the the teachers are indeed the keys and the major players for successful
implementation of a curriculum.
In regard to our endeavor on preparing qualified
teachers, there is a good point left by the previous government. Along the
enactment of Law No.14 / 2005 on teachers and lecturers, some programs of SBY
administration as a part of restoration of the teacher as an honorable
profession in community deserve to be continued and improved.
Teacher certification program that has been
going on for almost seven years gradually began to have a positive impact on
our education, especially in the increased interest of Indonesian youths to
choose the teaching profession as their career choice. Unlike what happneed in the
past when student teachers were more those who failed to choose another field
of study (non-educational), now many student teachers deliberateley chose
education as their top choice. This occurs because the teaching profession
began to be regarded as not only socially and culturally respectable, but also
financially promising.
The rise interest can be tracked from the
large number of applicants currently enrolled into the Institute of Teachers
Training and Education (LPTK). As reported by Alhumami (2013), data from the
Joint Selection State University (SBMPTN) in 2013, for example, showed that
there were 407,000 (69.4%) out of 585.789 participants chose a course in LPTK.
This figure increased significantly compared to 2012, which previously numbered
about 350 thousand participants. The number of applicants for LPTKs through the
National Selection of State University (SNMPTN) also increased sharply in 2013.
It even reached 300% higher than the preceding year. This figure was the
highest record in the history of LPTKs. This data did not include yet those who
enrolled at private LPTKs which could be two to three times more than state
LPTKs.
The growing interest of the younger generation
of Indonesia to study at LPTK is certainly a good signal that the government's
campaign to restore teaching as a respectable profession is significantly achieved.
This certainly could be an entry point to improve the quality of teacher
education. When there are more and more candidates, the competition to join with
LPTKs will be harder. This competition then allows LPTKs (especially the state
ones) to have better prospective teachers in terms of their academic quality. In
the long term, good quality of teacher candidates is highly strategic in our
efforts to advance the quality of national education through the provision of qualified
teachers.
However, this recent booming could also be a
dangerous 'ticking time bomb' if the government did not immediately impose a strict
regulation and take control on the selection process as well as on the quality
of a learning process in LPTKs. Of the main challenges are related to the ratio
of the number of student teachers with our need for teachers in ten or fifteen
years to come; and the quality of the learning process in LPTK itself.
According to data from Kemdikbud, currently there are at least 429 LPTKs with 1.440.770 students.
It is estimated that each year there will be a minimum of 300,000 new
undergraduates with Bachelor degree in education. In fact, we would need a new
teacher only about 40,000 people per year. This means that every year there will
be an excess supply of teachers as many as 260,000 people. Think of five or ten
years to come, how many excess we are going to have. This figure is certainly
potential to add to our unemployment rate as well as social problems.
Another serious challenge is how to monitor
the quality of the educational process in the LPTKs, especially in many private
LPTKs which currently grows in large numbers. As explained by Muchlis Samani
(2013), there is even a few LPTKs operating before obtaining license from the
Ministry of Higher Education. Some of these LPTK tend to accept students in
large numbers, exceeding their capacity for qualified lecturers and necessary
facilities.
Such conditions can certainly result in a
lower quality of graduates. Therefore, the government’s plan to create a
National Standard of Teacher Education (SNPG) certainly is the right step. This
standardization is expected to minimize some potential problems as I mentioned
above. The standardization is further expected to be not only as a reference for
all LPTKs to play their roles as institutions for “teachers production’; but
also as a selection to determine which LPTK deserves to be keept operating.
To be more specific, there are at least two issues
that need to be clearly defined in this SNPG. First, the government must be
firmed in setting up quota limits for the number of students to be accepted in
each LPTK considering their available resources and capacity. The quota limit also
needs to be applied in to student teachers for Professional Teacher Education
program (PPG), which is already underway.
Furthermore, the government must make strict
criteria in the selection process of prospective students. The criteria should
enable the LPTKs to have students from the best high school graduates. In this context,
we can have a look at how some developed countries, such as Finland, South
Korea, and Singapore select their student teachers. These three countries
consistently apply a very strict system in their student selection process in
which they apply a merit based selection system. They only recruit students from
highest-achieving (high) school graduates. So, they only accept student teachers
with brilliant academic achievement.
In the Indonesian context, the strict
criterion is not new. Since the era of independence until 1960s, the government
used to apply strict criteria for accepting prospective students to be educated
in teacher training institutions. To be accepted in the SGB (School Teacher B)
and SGA (School of Higher Teachers), for example, candidates must be the best
graduates from the School of the People (Sekolah
Rakyat). The same pattern also applied when the government made a new
institution, the School of Teacher Education (SPG), which also accepted
students with the best academic background. I think there is no harm if the
government re-adopts this strict recruitment system for todays teacher
education.
In regard to the quality of learning process
in LPTK, although article 9 of Regulation No.19/2005 on National Education
Standards states that the each LPTK is given the freedom to develop their own
curriculum system, I would argue that the national curriculum for teacher
education which comprise Content
Standards and some basic competences is also important. Through this national
curriculum the government enacts to make sure that every LPTK is on the right
track in developing the four competencis as professional teacher mandated by laws;
pedagogical competence, professional competence, personal competence and social
competence. The dormitory system within teacher education and intensive
training we used to have are also worth to be considered as an alternative
model of the learning process for our teacher candidates.
* The writer teaches at the Faculty of
Teachers Training and Education of Riau University, currently pursuing his
doctoral degree in the Faculty of Education, Monash University Australia.
(This article was first written for The Jakarta Post)
