Ministry seeks public advice on new curriculum

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Sat, December 01 2012, 7:33 AM

The Education and Culture Ministry has released the 2013 draft curriculum to the public in the hope of garnering suggestions on the new curriculum, which it says will focus on character building among students. The online version of the draft curriculum can be downloaded from http://kurikulum2013.kemdikbud.go.id. The ministry also allows visitors to the website to leave comments and feedback on the soon-to-be-implemented curriculum. Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh said on Thursday evening that the ministry would examine the public's feedback, which may contain criticism over the minister’s plan to remove English from and add science and social sciences to the elementary school curriculum. However, Nuh said that no public objections would postpone or cancel the implementation of the new curriculum in mid-2013. “We need advice to improve the draft, but we will not cancel the curriculum's launch,” he said. The ministry previously said that the new curriculum would likely consist primarily of civic education, history and religion. The curriculum also inserts the scout movement as a compulsory extracurricular activity for students in public schools. Pointing out that students were left unsupervised by busy parents, Nuh said classes at public elementary schools would be extended from 26 to 30 hours per week. On the website, the ministry explains that Indonesia has shorter school hours than other countries. OECD countries, which comprised 34 developed countries, had 15 percent longer school hours than Indonesia, the ministry added. The Education and Culture Ministry has proposed Rp 171 billion (US$17.79 million) funding for the curriculum improvements to take effect next year. Apart from using its website to gather feedback, the ministry will also be conducting a three-week roadshow to 38 cities across the country and holding meetings with educational experts. (cor/lfr)