The Irony of Improving Educational Quality

As if it is not enough to watch the recently jumble tangle of the national exam covered by various media outlets, a friend of mine who teaches junior high school poured in her wrath on her Facebook wall. She lamented over the poor quality of the answering sheets. Her students suffered from increasing tension and stress to not damaging their sheets during the exam. The substandard sheets were easily torn when they tried to rectify their answers by erasing the false answers.


“It’s outrageously maddening! Not only the government fails to ensure the distribution of exam materials within a timely order, it also recklessly appointed printing company that provided poor quality answering sheet. It’s a total mess!” Her anger came pouring in.

Another drama followed when I watched the news in one of the national TV covering the national exam fiasco and the allegedly leaked key answers among students in Bandar Lampung. Asked during a live interview on whether he felt ashamed and guilty for cheating during the exam, the anonymous high school student candidly replied, “I don’t feel ashamed or guilty because the others do the same.”

I was totally taken aback. My jaw dropped! A bloody vulgar picture that perfectly illustrates the ends justifies the means at whatever cost including dignity and integrity!

Despite the noble cause of the national exam, we constantly see many frauds in its application; leaking documents, answer and question sheets as well as cheating by using the service of joki or someone who offers service to do the exam. All these irregularities found during the exam have been the main focus of the profoundly negative effect of the national exam over our educational system.

The so-called policy of national exam that the Ministry of Education and Culture had defended to have helped them mapping the quality of the education has apparently failed to deliver its noble goal. Cheating always mars the annual event. Instead of improving the educational quality, the policy has forced teachers and students alike to foster the culture of ‘cheating’. It is an irony how teachers who should be the one who encourage their students to learn and study are doing the opposite by spreading the leaked answers in the name of helping students to graduate.

Bad education policies damage children. The national exam costs highly every year, but does not measure the actual quality of national education. The standardized testing is currently the nation's dominant educational theme, the primary focus of schooling i.e how much preparation needed, how much anxiety produced, the costs, the scores, the delay, the cheating – and so forth.

Students' intelligence is measured by grades, which only partially touch the key purpose of the teaching-learning process. Passing the exam with satisfying result becomes the ultimate goal. To fail increasingly grows into the worst nightmare both for teachers and students. The national exam becomes a terrible monster that they try hard to eliminate on whatever cost. If all the students graduate, the success would boost the school reputation.

Thus, both parties sometimes work hand in hand to outsmart the the test illegally, ignoring the sanctions imposed on such acts. Key answers leak days before the day of the exam. Teachers are caught red-handed to help distributing the leak to their students. They unconsciously destroy the basic foundation of character building by surrendering to the increasing pressure of the test. They set bad example, a damaging role model. Integrity and dignity as part of character building lost in the process. The end weighs more than the process. They measure their success through numbers only. Quality is sacrificed in the expense of quality. The damage is irreversible.

It is obvious that things have gone pretty wrong. Teachers, parents, students, practitioners and allies from every corner of the nation have continuously voiced their concerns and outcries over the jumble tangle within our national education system; the half-baked curriculum, the national exam, the delay of the exam materials and so on.

And yet the Ministry of Education and Culture in particular, remains obsessed with the testing, ignoring the negative consequences and the pouring outcries. As a result, coursework in most schools has become dominated by test preparation and lost any semblance of intellectual rigor.

I personally do not say "no to testing." I say the government should have a better alternative - an assessment system that includes student performance, professional development, curriculum innovation, rubrics for assessment, and a documented success rate for college acceptance and perseverance to measure the quality of our education. Therefore, the government should consider another way of examination such as giving the right to the schools to conduct the examination and determine their graduation of their own students. Attention must refocus on the classroom: on texts, not testing manuals; on critical thinking skills, not testing drills; on complex writing assignments, not formulaic essay tests; on advanced math skills and scientific problem solving, not rote memorization; on probing discussion and debate, not platitudes and clichés.

Therefore, policymakers need to promote alternatives that work. They need to visit more schools; listen to those who work closest with children about their experiences; study the abundant research that has been published on good teaching practices; and ensure that policies permit flexibility to meet the diverse needs of children and school communities.

In Between Optimism and Pesimism

“An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight. . . The truly wise person is colorblind.” (Albert Schweitzer)


Depending on how we view our life, our workplace can be either a series of dark rooms, with unbearable pressures from demanding bosses and sad music blasting from computers or bright shiny rooms with sweet fragrance and challenging environment to work in. It’s like describing an image of a glass of liquid as half empty or half full. An optimist in office will always see the glass as half-full, expecting things to go well and dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation. A pessimist, on the other hand, tends to see the glass as half-empty, expecting things to go bad and focus on the negative sides of most things.

While most people tend to take side on the optimists, I prefer to fall in between. I prefer to see both sides of the coin. I am neither foolishly optimistic nor depressingly pessimistic in office as life always throws us curveballs that makes it hard to predict on what comes next. The only surest thing about life that we all agree upon that it is unpredictable.

So with the life in office. I can be optimistic; raking my brain out to cope with this unpredictability and scheme plans to make them work. Nevertheless, sometimes I fear to experience pitfalls when my plans turn out to be total failure. For that very reason, I sometimes dwell on the downside of any plans I make to devise a protective buffer in case things might go wrong.

Assessing the fact as it is and being prepared to take it head on is my take! I don’t like to pretend that everything’s going to work out because most of the time, it doesn’t. I dont't like to pretend to cheer up all the time despite the disspointment just because people tell me so! Things may have gotten worse, but then you learn to understand how to interpret them positively.

As an example, I look at things honestly using my years of experience no matter how bitter that may sound. I am always optimist that I could perform well in any field of work I am assigned to. It is my responsibility to carve my work with excellence. Nonetheless, I don’t ignore the possible pitfalls, the darker reality of my working environment. If I go through this reality with blind optimism, I would be so disappointed that eventually the heartbreaking environment might crush me.

It is a sad depressing fact. I see it as it is. I don't like to pretend seeing beautiful rainbows over the skies while islands of clouds gather to form downpours and tornado! No matter how good or satisfying you do your work; you are constantly denied to move forward or to even obtain salary and benefits that should be your rights to claim solely because the system says so. It's the unlucky circumstances that lead to the unfairness. It is a fact. Therefore, I am prepared to anticipate the worse without losing my ethics in performing my job.

So, to avoid falling into prey to depressing pessimist, I don’t try to deny this fact. It is OK to feel disappointed and hail a torrent of protests and complaints or just stared in disbelief. Yet, in the end of the day, the show must go on!

Now, I have a response in case I am accosted by unbearable optimists at office.

“I’m not smiling because I don’t feel like walking around looking like an idiot! I don't feel like telling people around that the system is great because the Management thinks so! And I refuse to pretend that everything’s going to be OK just to please everybody.”


I know that things will get harder and I must work harder due to the unfortunate situation. Yet, in spite of this, I do the work and attain the targeted result for my office. I have learned that things sometimes do not go according to how you expect them to go. It is the art of keeping a balance between being optimism and pessimism with reality. Whatever hardships you might encounter have simply made you a smarter and wiser person. They have taught you that not everything goes as you wish or plan. You have learned not to run at things blindly hoping you will be lucky. Most importantly you have learned lessons that hopefully would make you a better person.

A Hidden Jewel Across Jakarta Bay

I am neither a good swimmer nor fans of the mighty seas. The vast and endless waters always send a chill down my spine. It feels like they suck me in infinity and beyond. I’d rather plant my feet in solid ground.


Yet, stories of the breathtakingly coral, colored fish and underwater critters had lured my resolve to get in waters of Tidung Island with fins and goggles last long weekend. What's more, the dizzying pace of Jakarta life along with its notorious traffic jams, pollution, and blaring horns steeled my determination to find a gateway for such chaos. I desperately needed a remote place to calm the mind, and the island seemed offering beguiling attraction.

Tidung is famous with its natural beauty, the friendliness of its people and the uniqueness of its tourism. It is called the "New Paradise" and is the largest island in the group of the Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu). It is just a few miles away north of Jakarta by a three hour ride on traditional fisherman’s boat or an hour on speedboat.

As I relied on restraint budget, I took the family package tour of Rp. 350,000/ person. The price covered the cost for home stay, meals, one banana boat ride, rental bike and snorkeling. We departed by traditional boat that was similar with refugee vessel from Muara Angke port where I should sit on the floorboard in the sweltering heat, cramped along with other passengers. It was overcrowded with more than 100 passengers overboard.

The waves toyed the boat around, sending a rippling churning to my stomach. Sometimes, the Captain would shout aloud that the boat tipped to the right, sending passengers panicking and moving to the left to keep its balance. It was an adrenaline voyage indeed!

Keep in mind that there are no resorts, hotels, or fancy restaurants on this island and the experience is probably best reserved for a day trip. It’s for the adventurous people. However, Tidung Island natives have their homes to rent. To move around the island, visitors should ride their rental bike or hail becak motor (trishaw or pedicab). It’s totally back to nature holiday!

After three hours wild ride, I arrived in the Island. The dock was overcrowded with people rushing in and out of the small island. Pushing and shoving made the queue turned into a total havoc. Hundreds of visitors invaded the site, igniting hustle bustle in the remote island.

Putting our travel bags in our lodging, we came to meet our guide who immediately took us to the dock for snorkeling. The captain with its crews moved us on. We'd already lost some snorkeling time and he wanted to put us in the water, which was the primary plan. To our surprise, the water was like a transparent glass in which we could steal a glimpse underneath. We couldn't believe it could be so calm--more like a lake than an ocean.

He pulled in into pretty calm water. We saw 10 or so people had all snorkeled and jumped quickly into the water. I was still a little nervous. It was my first time to snorkel. Despite my worries, I really wanted to be in that clear water as the heat was unbearable. The captain patiently gave safety instruction, and set me up with equipment. Hesitantly, over the side I went, with a noodle for a safety blanket.

As I saw the majestic view through my goggles, everything else in the world stopped. Sooner than I expected, I ditched the noodle because it was a distraction. Colorful corals and fishes greeted my eyes. I was completely bewitched! Amazing underwater topography, so many different fish, beautiful brightly colored corals and underwater plant life so close it seemed you could reach out and touch them. I felt a bit like an Atlantis resident. Breathtaking!

Floating in the water, watching and listening to more than I could ever hope to take in, was amazing. It’s like having a relapse from the chaotic hectic world into a peaceful serene landscape. The snorkeling itself was absolutely beautiful and addicting. And it was only some miles away from Jakarta with small budget. Refreshing!

Rail New Schedule: More Sweats and Tears

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/04/08/imo-view-new-schedule-more-sweat-and-tears.html



Prior a delayed plan to scrap economy-class electric trains up to July, the state-owned rail operator, PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), had announced to change the schedule of commuter line. The aim was to improve its service by increasing the frequency of commuter line services in Greater Jakarta from 514 to 575 trips per day commencing on 1st April 2013.

As one of the millions of road warriors entering Jakarta each day from the suburbs, I was delighted to hear the news. It would mean there’d be more trains available and extended operating hours of the commuter line plying Jakarta’s Kota to Bogor. In my wildest imagination, I pictured myself sitting cross-legged in a more convenient, less crowded and cozy train. Commuting daily in packed carriages with poor service and constant delay can be a living hell sometimes. So, the news is indeed a bliss of heaven!

I WAS WRONG! After three days experiencing the new schedule, I failed to see any improvement of the service I craved for. The train was still the same, still overcrowded, still delayed, and still poor. More sweats and tears spilled to just board on the iron snake! Passengers still experienced the inconvenience of disrupted schedule, causing a domino of delays and leaving thousands of commuters stranded for hours. Peak- hour rail chaos loomed as bat causes short-circuit or signal problem and commuters were forced to wait longer in frustration and anger. Unreliable schedules affected the trip of trains that caused massive pile up of passengers in each station.

Worse, the new schedule during peak hours was still unable to accommodate thousands of commuters swarming in the stations. More schedules instead were added during hours when commuters haven’t yet left their office. Meanwhile, less trains made trip during rush hours.

Yesterday, on my way home, I had to to board on the overcrowded commuter line (CL) at 5.30 p.m from Gondangdia station. Packed like sardines into sweaty, claustrophobic carriages; I could barely breathe let alone move about freely. I didn’t have an inch in which to move and was pressed up against the steamy glass windows. The air conditioning was dead, and the windows were all closed. What a squeeze! What a sweaty miserable condition!

In my experience, commuter line services are no better than that of [economy-class] electric trains, with low compliance of minimum service standards. The condition deteriorates as the schedule is unreliable due to the old song of long excuses of power troubles. Scuffles between frustrated commuters have become more and more common, while wicked molesters take advantage of the overcrowding to fondle and harass the others. In the end, passengers also seem to be giving up on fighting for better services as their pleas are often rebuked and turned into deaf-ears.

Despite the horror stories, I have no choice but to use the train. Like many others, I find using commuter trains save time and money than ever before. It is likely out of necessity because despite all of its problems, it still beats the odds of sitting in the increasingly nightmarish traffic. A trip to Depok by car can take up to two hours, but a commuter train will have you there in 45 minutes.

I just hope that the responsible public officials in this country will someday understand that public transportation is there to make our lives easier. Passengers are fed up with trains that are delayed, overcrowded and unsafe. So, improving these standards should be their top priority. Even it might help to battle the worsening traffic in Jakarta.

The Garlic Saga: Beggars in Their Own Land

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/03/25/imo-view-the-garlic-saga.html

Hundreds of commuters disembarked from the commuter line at Depok Baru train station as I maneuvered my way out to avoid getting trampled or squashed. Lined with fatigue, these passengers battled their way again to board on the blue public minivans parked along the narrow streets. The already congested road grew worse, adding another nightmare to the weary passengers. I shoved myself in the overcrowded minivan, securing the leftover seat that squeezed me to the point I could not even move an inch.

“Yesterday, I bought a quarter kilogram of shallots for Rp 12,000. Now, I have to pay Rp 15,000 for the same quarter. It’s so outrageous! Even for our basic seasoning, the price has been skyrocketing. I am afraid I will no longer be able to afford them.” A middle age woman on my right with black plastic bag full of vegetables and other cooking herbs said with a deep sigh.

Another lady next to her exclaimed in unison, adding that she had to empty her purse to buy a kilogram of garlic for Rp 80,000.

“What an irony! While Indonesia is renowned for its agriculture, most of our basic foods are still imported that make them volatile in price. Last year, tahu and tempeh became scarce due to the lunatic price hike!” She blurt out angrily.

Another housewife said she’s going to avoid buying shallots and garlic until the price returns to normal. She would replace them with instant seasoning instead.

The bantering enthralled me. These women spoke for the many hardworking housewives struggling to balance their budget to cope up with the soaring prices of staple food in the land of fertile agriculture. It showed the growing discontent among people for the extraordinary rise in prices of what should be normally one of the affordable agriculture products. If the prices kept skyrocketing, it was only a matter of time before the mayhem affected the health and well-being of many families in this nation.

Related to this issue, it was only the day before my office held a meeting to address the situation as the soaring prices of volatile foods might add another inflationary pressure to the economy. The crisis rooted in the unequal equation between the demand and supply resulted from the government’s move to curb the import of various horticulture products while local famers have not been able yet to meet the market demand as in case of the soaring price of beef.

It is a growing concern, should the government failed to tackle this problem accordingly. Amid the lingering global economic uncertainty, it is essential and compulsory for the government to keep the inflation at bay.

Meanwhile, the public started to dissent the related ministries, which again resorted to the hunting game – looking for scapegoats to blame on spiraling prices. The President has lambasted over the poor performance of the related ministries in dealing with this price instability in volatile food. Instructions had been issued to wrest the sharp increase. Again, poor coordination at the ministerial levels had been laid bare at the expense of the sweats and tears of many housewives in this nation.

It is so dreadful to learn that local farmers only contributed 5 percent garlic to the market while the remaining need for garlic is still imported. With so many fertile lands stretching from east to west, north to south and having the largest manpower in South East Asia, it saddens to learn that our farmers become beggars in their own lands. It is the responsibility of the government should maintain price stability and regulate import while protecting local farmers so that they would enjoy their production benefit.

As for me, and perhaps many others, we dream to see the nation regain its glory in agriculture. We long to see the nation to reach swasembada pangan (food self-sufficiency and security in agriculture sector). We want to enjoy the diverse agriculture products with cheaper prices. We are sick to see another saga of price hiking in these products. And we don’t want to be  beggars in our own land!

International Women’s Day: Time to Stop Pandemic Violence Against Women

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/03/18/imo-view-stop-violence-against-women.html

Within hours, we will be commemorating International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March 2013. It coincides with the UN Commission on the Status of Women’s focus to bring an end on the “pandemic” of violence targeting females worldwide. It is recorded that up to 7 in 10 women globally, or 70 per cent, would be beaten, raped, abused or mutilated in their lifetime. The UN Women Executive Director called on the international community to deliver on their commitments and to protect women’s right to live free of violence.

For me personally, I am embittered by the fact that until today, violence against women and girls is still rampant all around the world. They are subject to appalling hostility justified in the name of religion, culture, and tradition. Practices such as gender discrimination, imprisonment, maiming, femicide, torture, even death, are ingrained as culturally authentic, required by religion, or sanctioned by time-honored tradition.

A worldwide condemnation hailed towards religious extremists who cowardly shot a 15-year-old Pakistani girl on her way home from school. Malala Yousafzai was a vigorous campaigner on education for women. Taliban considered the act against the scriptures! What a twisted sickening rationale. It is their act of brutality which grossly transgresses the teachings of their religion.

Following the Arab Spring, women across the Middle East are now bracing themselves against the harsh core reality that they remain as second class citizens. They had actively participated to thwart the autocratic regimes, yet the now ruling governments seem impatient to curb women from the mainstream of politics, economy, and any other aspect of life, in the name of religion. It is really disheartening to see the widespread misuse of religion to excuse or condone abusive behaviors towards women.

Meanwhile, images of domestic violence almost always wind up putting women as victims. The man seems to have complete control over the lives of a married woman, as reflected in a number of tragic stories in Afghanistan, Mali, India, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and many other countries where traditions and culture embedded in the deep rooted patriarchal societies reinforced by false and misguided interpretations of the religious texts take reign.

It is also nauseating to learn that more and more women suffer a life time trauma and humiliation from rape. Many tragically lost even their lives under this monstrous crime. The gang rape and death of a 23 year old medical student in India, the gang rape of a high schooler in Steubenville-Ohio, the rape of 17-year Sout African girl, and the repeated sexual assault on the Indonesian fifth grader were only the tip of the iceberg of the massive violence directed against women. Rape is theologically, socially, morally and ethically wrong and constitutes as a heinous crime. It is the most atrocious physical, psychological, and spiritual violation of one person by another.

What is more sickening is the use of rape as strategy of war in the conflict- ridden countries such as Colombia, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Mali, and Syria, among others. In these countries, women and girls alike continue to suffer the horror of high levels violence and helplessness. While, the sadistic perpetrators got away, the victims were routinely blamed and made to feel shame for the violence committed against them. None they could turn to. Often, they feared for their life if they reported the crime. Often they sought in vain for justice.

For that reason, it is imperative for us to ask how many more women and girls need to be violated and ruined? How many more families need to suffer? It is time for us all to say enough is enough.

Commemorating the IWD, let us work together to stop VIOLENCE against women and girls. Let us say it aloud today and the days onward. Let us stand together campaigning NO to rape and sexual violence, NO to human trafficking and sexual slavery, NO to murders committed in the name of honour or passion and NO to femicide. NOT in the name of religion, culture, nor tradition.

Valentine's Day is just Another Day to go By

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/02/18/imo-view-valentine-s-day-just-another-day.html

With the so called Valentine’s Day fast approaching, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has issued an edict banning the celebration, arguing it is sinful and would promote casual sex. As much as I agree that such festivity among youths nowadays is rather out of place, I find it rather silly to hold the celebration responsible for the moral decline of the young generation today as accused by some religious hardliners. The root cause is much deeper than that ranging from the bad side effects of globalization and modernization to the loosening religious as well as familial values within the society.


Personally, I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. Nor do I have any objection or grudge for those who celebrate it so long it doesn’t disrupt the public. It’s a matter of personal preference. You can’t just curb any personal preference or ban someone to do something that is not against the law. Further, without MUI declaring it as haram (forbidden), I know engaging in the usual hugging, kissing and intimate touching demonstrated by youths during the festival is not in line with Indonesian culture and religious norms. The same way I know that drinking alcohol and eating pork is haram. MUI is often far too generous with less essential rulings as was the case with the haram rulings on yoga and smoking while I think the council should concentrate on much more fundamental issues.

Anyway, I don’t see any point of celebrating the day. It is just another day. Love is every day celebration whether it’s parental love, friendship love, or respectful love. We deserve someone to treat us special every single day, not just once a year. There is nothing like a spontaneous love gift from your true partner compared to obligatory offering made on Valentine Day that is often forced and pre-packaged.

In addition, I don’t want to fall victim into victim of the gigantic commercial sales ads. Valentine Day is a western culture derived from ancient Rome during the era of paganism associated with feast of pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia, to its present incarnation as a commercial free-for-all driving huge sales of chocolate, flowers and jewelry. The event is promoted and nurtured modishly by greeting companies in collaboration with the candy, flower, and teddy bear companies to make more money.

The media darlings play as an ideal conductor to nourish the idea globally. The ads and pop culture in movies, songs, and poetries through the mass media help to keep the lore alive and flourish. Everything with love and romance will always captivate the tender hearts. As a result, Valentine’s Day today is celebrated worldwide. It is undeniably a huge cash machine that generates billions of dollars. Your spending will increase which means your savings will be less while the companies are growing fatter in their bellies because people like us feed them unconsciously. Now, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, and every corner of Jakarta have much to offer to lure customers into the trap.

For that reason, it is counterproductive to issue the edict as like most MUI edicts, it would likely be ignored by the public. What is the purpose of issuing a fatwa if, finally, the edict causes confusion or fails to serve as a guide and draws less response? Instead of labeling the event as haram, in my personal opinion it would be better to educate Muslim youths and give them religious teachings so that Valentine’s Day celebrations will not become a tradition.