THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

I'nesia curriculum causes confusion

I'nesia curriculum causes confusion

Although Indonesia's new national curriculum is set to become effective in four months, teachers and education experts say that they are still in the dark over details about the new guidelines, with some saying that some of the subjects are too absurd to

 

The new curriculum, which integrates civic education and religion with science, was far too complicated for teachers, let alone students to understand, said Retno Listyarti, the Indonesian Teachers Unions Federation (FSGI) secretary-general.
Retno said on Wednesday that with teachers being given only a few months to fully grasp the integrated subjects, they are still waiting for proper details from the Education and Culture Ministry about the new curriculum. So far, all that is available is an incomplete document of standards and competency for the students.
In the standards and competency document obtained by The Jakarta Post recently, in the subject of Indonesian language, the basic competence required from students is accepting that the language is a gift from God – a means that can unite the country amid differences in local languages.
A sample of the standards and competency required from a fourth-grade student in a science subject is that they should be able to acknowledge that God created the universe. 
The document does not provide details on the integration of mathematics and religion.
Retno said teachers will have serious problems with the new curriculum, because they have not been provided with a description of each integrated subject and the teacher’s guidelines. 
“I wonder how the ministry can say that they have almost completed the textbooks if they are unable to complete such a basic document?” Retno said.
As previously reported, Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh said new books both for students and teachers will be ready by the end of this month as they were already with the proofreaders. 
He has also told teachers to be patient as they will be trained on the new curriculum in May. 
“Of course they are confused about the content – they haven’t been trained yet,” Nuh said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Musliar Kasim, the deputy education and culture minister, said the ministry could not distribute the guidelines because they were not yet considered official documents. 
“We will show the draft of the curriculum shortly, when we are ready,” he said.
According to Musliar, 102,053 schools, including elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools, would implement the curriculum starting in the 2013/2014 academic year.
He said that only the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th grade students would study under the new curriculum this year and it is only in the 2015/2016 academic year that all grades implement the curriculum.
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