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EDUCATION: TO THE FUTURE, OR STUCK FOREVER?



The delegate of the Republic of Indonesia, along with delegates from 51 other countries, gathered today, under the Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee, or SOCHUM for short, to discuss the future of education in the world, and the necessary reformation of education infrastructure and practices.


This is not the first time the world has come together to solve this issue. It was first brought up in the UN General Assembly, in 1948, stating that “Everyone has the right to education” and that it shall be “free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages’’. However, as of 2018, “one in five youths, children and adolescents” are still out of school (UNESCO, 2018). The situation has worsened, since COVID-19 struck, with 1.6 billion children out of school (World Economic Forum, 2020). In Indonesia, the problem is not any better given its poor infrastructure, lack of resources and manpower in remote areas, as well as poor management. As such, many children in remote areas of Indonesia are unable to access the internet and continue their education.


Of course, steps have been taken to ensure that these problems are mitigated such as the Teacher Law in 2005, the School Operational Assistance Grant and the Smart Indonesia Program. (The World Bank 2018). Nonetheless, while the standard of education in Indonesia has improved, it is still far from perfect.


The main issue of the education system in Indonesia is the poorly designed curriculum. As Indonesia's curriculum mainly focuses on rote learning, there is a lack of focus on application of learning,” The delegate of Indonesia said, in a recent interview with The Jakarta Globe adding on that, “the conference will help Indonesia's education system by being able to work with other delegates to look into creating an education system that is able to ensure that Indonesian students receive not only an education, but a quality education.”


She posited that with increased budgets being allocated to education and education spending, the future of Indonesia now relies on the response of the Indonesian government, in the face of COVID-19, which is one of the main topics being discussed in the conference.


“Indonesia’s belief is that quality education should be a basic human right for all children up to the age of fifteen” she stated, adding that Indonesia would like to see more effort going towards raising the quality of education being provided to students.


Moving forward, the conference aims to solve these problems through a variety of solutions such as digitalisation of education, increased international cooperation, and aligning the curriculum with specific industry and regional requirements.


“Possible solutions would be to work together with other countries, such as Singapore, to link the construction of vocational facilities with wider infrastructure development” the delegate of Indonesia stated.


“Previous measures, such as developing a programme to promote access to education aimed at the underprivileged, now struggle as the crisis has forced the government to adjust its plans. However, the government intends to continue to move forward in implementing some of its education strategies, such as introducing a training programme for educators to continue to improve the quality of education’’, she added.


However, despite the heated discussion throughout the conference, the delegates kept having to come back to square one, often trying to define the main issues in the global education system, similar to previous conferences. Some of the main issues are the financial barriers in society, cultural stereotypes, and differing opinions among the international community. The conference will carry on for the next four days, along with the discussion on the use of government surveillance in times of crisis.



References:

Improving Teaching and Learning in Indonesia. (2018, April 3). World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/brief/improving-teaching-and-learning-in-indonesia

COVID-19 put 1.6 billion children out of school. Here's how to upgrade education post-pandemic. (2020, December 4). World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/covid19-education-innovation-outcomes/

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