Educators Favor New Curriculum, Minister Says

Republika, Page 5

Minister of Education and Culture Mohammad Nuh claims that many educators favor the new 2013 Curriculum because some Indonesian schools, who were not appointed to implement the curriculum, were willing to finance the implementation on their own. These schools only requested the ministry’s assistance and guide to help implement the new curriculum.

Nuh believes the new curriculum is much more appealing compared to the previous one. The previous curriculum entailed more passive students with more active teachers. However, this curriculum demands students to be much more active. Aside from that, the new curriculum also uses a different approach such as prioritizing creativity, observation, plus students are asked to think analytically and ask questions.

Despite the minister’s claim, the implementation of the new curriculum has not been effective in all designated regions. Hudaya, head of the Education Office in Banten province, says his province experienced many problems during the implementation so far such as teachers needing more training, books and documents received after July 15, funds that have not been disbursed to make copies of the new curriculum books, and master teachers that were not competent enough.

Education expert and rector of IKIP PGRI Semarang Muhdi says the new curriculum that has not been simultaneously implemented for all subjects in senior high school makes it difficult for teachers to evaluate. In Semarang, the new curriculum for tenth grade is only applied to three subjects which are mathematics, Indonesian and history.

Educators Favor New Curriculum, Minister Says