The purpose of teaching students subjects in English is unclear. The two reasons, based on interviews with schools principals and teachers done by the British Council, are globalization and studying abroad (Coleman, 2010). Globalization is synonymous with international competition (Coleman, 2009a); this competition is then assumed to involve the use of English; and using English is perceived to necessitate the learning of school subjects in English. Such formulation is problematic because being competitive is simply understood as having proficient English. The fact is that to adequately compete in global competition, students need to possess hard skills in the form of numeracy, computer and language abilities and soft skills in the form of leadership, communication, cultural awareness and problem-solving abilities. Students can be taught all of them without having English as instruction language. In addition, there are many other international languages which can be used to bridge such competitions. It is better if such schools require students to study international languages but the need for English in international contacts does not imply that learning of school subjects should take place in English (Coleman, 2009a).
The reason of studying abroad to justify such instruction is also unacceptable. Coleman (2009b) argues that within context of Indonesia, there are two groups which experience direct impact of globalization, namely people working abroad and those studying overseas. There are only 50.000 students studying overseas at any one time and the government provides them with exclusive education and funds. In contrast, there are approximately 2.5 million Indonesian migrant workers working abroad at any one time. These people often have difficult employment conditions when they work overseas, but they generate over $6 billion in foreign exchange annually. They receive little or even no education or training which is specially designed to enable them to survive and success abroad. If studying abroad is the main reason for having such instruction, the government is clearly unfair. Hence, to be fair, the government should design equal system of education and training for All Indonesians.
Another justification is that such schools are intended to avoid Indonesian students seeking for quality schools abroad (Tarso, 2013). This reason implies that before the existence of SBI and RSBI, Indonesian schools are not good enough in terms of quality. This surely contradicts the government policy on education as they already have “Sekolah Unggulan”. In addition, the rich can send their children anywhere at their wish. Having such schools will only extend the existing gap between them and the poor.
There are also financial and technical issues in implementation. A school with English as instruction language is very expensive and to run, it is unlikely to be affordable for people with low-income. This is discrimination because getting primary education is a basic human right. Rich people can get some full benefits in such schools while the poor are not able to enjoy such luxury. In terms of facility, those schools are required to equip classrooms with Air Conditioner, Laptop, and LCD projectors. They are also obliged to have laboratory of language and science (Latief, 2013). Unfortunately, the fund which is needed to facilitate such schools is taken from students. Being international is then identified with the physical character of schools instead of introducing eco-friendly schools environment, for instance by having common window rather than AC, and of academic skills improvement.
As the government only provides two years for such schools to prepare, many of them buy foreign books which are very expensive. While local publishers are very keen to produce books with international quality, most schools choose the imported materials. Such books cause difficulties for schools. Local teachers are then confused how to teach such materials as they don’t really comprehend the methodology. Foreign publishers also offer cooperation by providing specific training for teachers as long as such schools buy their books (Sanjaya, 2013). It also doesn’t accommodate well the local knowledge. A good example is on the vertebrate animals which are shown in an imported science book. Students need time as they can’t find them in their surroundings. They don’t learn their local faunas in schools and it makes no good as they have to at least recognize well their own regional potentials before studying “foreign” knowledge.
In addition, such schools are heavily subsidized and fees are charged. Each year the government grants around Rp11 billion of subsidy for the school in which each school receives fund ranging from Rp200 to 300 million. The schools also charge students entrance fee starting from Rp4 to 15 million and monthly tuition fee which varies from one school to another, from Rp300.000 to 5 million (Saut, 2013).
The case is very different in Surabaya as there is an anomaly. Schools are completely free of charge as the local government allocates their budget to fund these educational institutions. Students only have to pay for uniform, books and their own stationeries. Major of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharani, even declares that there is no discrimination between the rich and the poor in Surabaya’s RSBI. Everyone must attend an admission test to analyze their academic abilities and even a system to monitor the poor students has been created. Furthermore, the poor are given free bag, books and hats, although it is only for the percentage of 5%. All of this local policy is truly inspiring but unfortunately it is only in the capital of East Java and not applied in other SBI/RSBI in Indonesia (Wibawa, 2013).
Another technical issue is regarding schools’ curriculum. SBI and RSBI must apply a concept called (SNP+X). SNP (Standar Nasional Pendidikan) is a national standard of education and it must be combined with an X which refers to a standard of OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation) or an international certification test such as Cambridge or ETS. The reason why such schools have to adopt an X is unclear as OECD has 30 members and which country should be taken as sister school and which aspects of the schools which needs to be developed is not defined, but can be chosen randomly. While developed countries such as Australia, Singapore and New Zealand didn’t permit such foreign system of education to be applied, it is really unproductive for the government to do the opposite (Ramaoka, 2013). In addition, the curriculum requires the students to attend the national examination and Cambridge test in the end of their study. It is very hard to them to focus to the two final tests in their final year as said by some principals.
There are also cognitive and psychological problems with the students. Students whose mother tongue is not English require a longer time to comprehend schools’ subjects if they are given in English. It becomes a technical handicap for them to improve their academic skills. Even, some of them face difficulties to normally interact and discuss with their native teachers as it should be done in English. In a few cases, their parents enroll them to an additional English course which is quite expensive only to make sure that their children can keep up with their classmates and school’s expectation. Some of students show symptoms of depression such as being angry frequently, crying and unable to sleep. They tell their parents that it is caused by pressure due to inability to comprehend school subjects which are difficult to them even though it is explained in Indonesia, let alone English. They also feel that their classmates are individualistic. Much homework even forces them to stay up. They are also afraid if their assignments are unfinished or incorrect as their teacher will be furious. Such schools demand too much and as a result students lose their time to play and socialize with their family, relatives and neighbors (Sanjaya, 2013).
Another issue is related to teachers’ qualifications. Most of them are not proficient in English as it is shown by the fact in the IELTS and TOEFL tests, only 10% of them get more than 500 (Sutan, 2012). Based on Ministry of education’s research and evaluation, 80% of principals and local teachers have very limited competence of English. They are on the novice (100-250 out of 990) and elementary level (255-400 out of 990) of TOEIC (Ramaoka, 2013). In order to tackle this issue, such schools oblige their teachers to improve their English ability by joining language courses in which fees are burdened to students. They are also required to get a certificate to teach in an international standard school. Such certificate is very expensive and becomes intriguing business among educators. Another solution is by hiring foreign teachers to educate their students. These foreign teachers are paid monthly with high salary, around Rp30 to 46 million while local teachers earn only Rp3 million (Ucu, 2013). In turn, it causes jealousy of local teachers as their salaries are very low. Some other schools hire capable speakers of English, mainly from Australia, the UK and the USA, to accompany local teachers while teaching and explaining subjects, but, this situation makes the local educators feel uncomfortable within the class.
Being taught in English doesn’t necessarily mean that the students will be more qualified on global competition as language in this context is merely a tool of communication, albeit an important one. Preparing students to compete internationally can be done by teaching them soft and hard skills in their native language. In the end, students’ mother tongue is the best medium of instruction to teach Indonesian students in classrooms and English must be allocated proper time as a compulsory subject to equip them with language skills.
Shohib Essir
* A mini research written and presented in IALF Kuningan
0 comments:
Posting Komentar