Curriculum Education in Indonesia: Is It Effective?

When I started thinking about how education is really important for our life, I remembered of what my parents say "Education is like an invest for our future life." In my opinion, there are some reasons of how important education is. 

Education gives us a knowledge to keep us survive, it also can develop us to build an opinion, and have points of view on things, education also can help us to see the other side of the world. 

In this part, I will tell you about education system in Indonesia. I want to share about my experience while I study here and analyze some of education system in Indonesia.

In Indonesia we must take education for normally more or less sixteen years. Six years for elementary school, three years for junior secondary school, three years for high secondary or vocational school, and four years for higher education institutions. Usually students in Indonesia entered the elementary school at seven years old. Education system in Indonesia arranged in a curriculum. 

This curriculum will change as time goes by. At the elementary school, the students will take the basics subject. In junior high school the students get the same subjects as in elementary, but there are also some additional subject. In senior high school the students divided in languages, science, or social science class, based on their ability. 

In higher education institution,  there are several different types, including universities, institutes, advanced schools, academies, polytechnics, and community academies.

The education system in Indonesia has well regulated, but there are some things that need to be fixed.  There are literacy and the curriculum. As we know, Indonesia has lower literacy than those of other Southeast Asian nation. Just a little of students in Indonesia who have reading habbit. Whereas, literacy is very important for us to see the world.

The other things that should be notice are, curriculum which always change. Curriculum education in Indonesia has change very often. When I was at junior high school, I feel the change of the curriculum and honestly, it made me, my friends, and also my teachers got extremely confused.

I felt uncomfortable because, I must adapt a new way of learning in short time. As a student and teacher, we forced to always follow the government regulations.

Curriculum should not only concern in theoretical. The teachers need to teach children how to think, not what to think. The teacher need to teach of  how critical thinking skills, inquiry and how to find answer. Usually, at the end of grade there are examination, usually called as UN. 

Students who successfully complete the program will receive a certificate of completion of their education. Meanwhile, they who are not success at that examination will repeat their study. It also has an effect on student's mental health.