Indonesia should have National Education Blueprint in Place: PGRI

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government is expected to draft the country's national education blueprint to prepare Indonesians to be at par with global community members, according to Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) Chairperson Professor Unifah Rosyidi.

"The blueprint is expected to be formulated by emphasizing on a foundation that education is an endeavor to prepare students to stand among the global community members," she noted in connection with the commemoration of Indonesia's National Education Day on Saturday.

The national education blueprint, supported by the PGRI, also stresses on the significance of preparing students to become good and productive citizens by edifying them on culture and values of pluralism, Rosyidi noted.

Last but not least, the blueprint also enables teachers to continue to learn and adapt to changes to ensure the smooth and unhindered running of educational activities, she stated.

"The new coronavirus pandemic, currently affecting various parts of the world, has brought about a realization in the context of Indonesia's national education, specifically about teachers' role cannot be replaced by technology," she remarked.

However, teachers, who are not technologically sound, would easily be replaced by technology, she stated, adding that the education sector would enter a period of "new normalcy" wherein old fashions of imparting education would no longer be a reference.

Learning and training activities for educationists should be shifted, from content-focused to process-focused paradigm.

To this end, the government must prioritize improving and providing infrastructure required for long-distance education to enable Indonesians from various parts of the country to get access to online learning services, she emphasized.

"Amid this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have realized the need to strengthen online-based educational services," she noted.

To this end, the PGRI is optimistic that the government would channel greater attention to investments in infrastructure necessarily required for facilitating broader access to affordable electricity and internet availability across the country, she stated.

PGRI would stay focused on boosting the quality, prosperity, and protection of all teachers. The association has also called on the government to handle the matter pertaining to K2 non-permanent teachers, who had passed the working contract-based civil servants (PPPK) tests by taking into account their age and years of services.

As part of its endeavors to enhance the capacity of teachers, PGRI has worked with the Mahir Academy of Rumah Perubahan (House of Change) to co-organize a virtual workshop for 13,000 teachers from 34 provinces across Indonesia on May 2-20, she revealed.

ANTARA