Indonesian culture & education
- Indonesian culture places a high emphasis on conformity, and deference to those in authority. As an Australian it can seem bizarre, as the values you might assume in talking with a fellow Australian are turned on their head.*
- Indonesian education not only fails to teach students to think - it actually teaches students not to think.
- Indonesian lecturers who have studied overseas tend to have a different teaching style - more oriented toward understanding and less toward rote repetition.
*This is based on my own experience of living in Indonesia for two years, and also on the work of Geert Hofstede. Hofstede derived 4 indices to describe culture, and on 3 of them - individualism, attitude to authority and (to a lesser degree) assertiveness ("masculinity") - Australia and Indonesia are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Schools
What I saw first-hand of Indonesian schools was not impressive. I was invited to English classes a few times. English teachers who can't speak recognisable English are quite common. The textbooks for English were a sad joke, and the textbooks for other subjects not much better. Producing textbooks provided lucrative contracts for Suharto's cronies, and quality obviously wasn't a priority... (I don't know if they've improved - they hadn't by the time I left in 2000, 2 years post-Suharto).
When I stayed in Surabaya, my Indonesian partner's younger brother was still at school. I was surprised by how long he spent at school, as he stayed back every day for extra tutoring. The tutoring seemed to be just extra rote learning. "Is it helpful?" I asked. Not really, he said. Why don't you stop then, I asked - you could save a lot of money, and learn more by doing your own reading at home. No, I can't stop, he said. "The teachers who give the tutoring rely on the money, and they won't like it if we stop... and they might give us bad marks."
That's a disgrace - but knowing what a pittance Indonesian public school teachers earn, it's not surprising.
But there's worse than this of course - the pesantren, traditional Islamic boarding schools, may give a poor education, or even lead students into violent fanaticism. As with the Bali bombers.
Australia's choice
Imagine what an impact could be had by a significant investment in Indonesian education. Better textbooks, better trained teachers. Students with a future that doesn't involve relying on dangerous fanatical religious leaders. A more prosperous Indonesia.
Imagine what that would mean to Australia's national security.
Now when our government spends billions of dollars on defence hardware and a relative pittance on aid, think how much more secure we'd be with more farsighted security and aid policies.
