Updated Textbooks Are Vetted For Content

Jakarta - The National Education Standardization Agency, or BSNP, is thumbing through nearly 1,000 elementary, junior and senior high school textbooks in a search for editions that can measure up to the Ministry of National Education`s standards, an official said on Monday.

Experts have criticized volumes commonly used in classrooms across the country for being out of date and cumbersome for students to read.

The books in the current screening operation cover three categories that include information technology, communication, art, culture, sports and health.

Mungin Eddy Wibowo, head of the agency, said many of the textbooks had already found their way into schools without approval from the Education Ministry.

The agency also vetted textbooks on religion and foreign languages other than English, such as German, French and Japanese.

Mungin said the BSNP was now preparing to wrap up the book approval process by the end of the year.

“We understand that schools have no choice but use the textbooks, even without our approval,” he said. “That is why we are now trying to finish the assessment soon.”

The assessment team includes teachers, education experts, academics from the respective fields and graphic experts.

Mungin said the agency had limited funds to evaluate the books, so the operation had been forced to proceed slowly.

He said some of the books already in use were inappropriate.

The Institute for Education Reform at Paramadina University recently released a study indicating that many textbooks being used by elementary school students were too advanced for their particular age groups, or contained outmoded ideas.

“That is why, after finishing the assessment, we will ask the ministry to officially announce the selected titles,” Mungin said. Anita Rachman

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com (6 April 2009)
Photo: http://people.uncw.edu

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