It has been a week since the
national examination for the 12th grader students was conducted. However, the
hype is not over yet. Moments ago, people were shocked by the news released by
the ministry of education which stated that some schools have to re-test their
students due to some leaked questions issues. This phenomenon seems enough to
add the preceeding sensation caused by the first online national examination
ever held in some selected schools. However, it does not only stop there. Nowadays, it is such a common thing when we
hear that the children of the city’s most respected general can be accepted in
any schools they want without passing any tests nor fulfilling any required
qualification standards. This is a sad irony when students eventually think
school is merely trifles which can be manipulated. No wonder, the education
system in Indonesia has finally left students with no integrity.
Students, which should be the
subject of the education itself, have now been slaved by dishonesty .
They pay their exam grades with answer keys they do not even know the truth. How could this happen? There are two main reasons behind it. Firstly,
at school, students are taught the conservative way. What teachers say and how
they write is what the students concern much, instead of the knowledge. Going
home, what the students got from those eight hours at school is how to imitate
their teachers. And what will happen if they do not follow their teachers’ way?
It could get them anything, from an A to an E. Their originality, on the other
hand, is not appreciated. It is the whole grading system that most students are
afraid of which leads them to believing answer keys rather than their own
ability.
Secondly, students these days are
mostly money-orientated. People’s paradigm that states people with good grades
or GPA are likely to have a more prosperous life, and definitely more money,
has driven the students’ mind to limit what they are actually passionate about.
Specifically in Indonesia, for instance, the paradigm that art-based
money-making will not make an established life has made it even worse. This may
be the cause why parents give their children a mathematics, chemistry, and other
most-hated-subjects course instead of giving them a course that will develop
their nonacademic skills. At the end, it leads students whose passion is
dancing, singing, and other artistry, to a limitation to their creativity. This
is dangerous as the core of education is actually, to create something better for
the human race which surely will not happen without any creativity.
Despite some controversy wheter to
change the education system of Indonesia or not, some people believe that this
kind of system still brings a new hope to
the country as well. This kind of system, which makes students master many
subjects at once, is beneficial as the basic knowledge of the students at the
real work life. This same system, which seems to force students to study the
subjects they hate the most, is a way to teach critical and logical thinking.
And national examination, which has been considered as the roots of all
education problems in Indonesia, is the easiest way to let students know what
they are actually worth of and this will help them much in deciding what major
they should have in college and what they want to be in the future and also acts as the simplest way to map out the students’ ability over a region and compare
it to the other regions in order to make a better education strategy.
In the end, the education system this country is obtaining does have positive and negative sides. However, this system still needs lots of improvement since the subjects of the education itself, students, do not seem to hold the integrity any longer. Yet, once this issue is solved, I believe that the education system will evolve to be a better one.
This essay was written 2 weeks ago,
when the issue of National Examination was still very happening.
Anyway, I do hope someday Indonesia will be one of those
so-called
superpower
country
other country adore
because we (students) are simply
as awesome as them abroad!