A mother attends to her son, who is having breakfast in his classroom before school starts at SD Negeri Jombang 5 state elementary school, South Tangerang, Monday (18/7/2016).
Introduced in August 2016 to commence in the 2017/2018 academic year, Indonesian schools will run for eight hours a day from Mondays to Fridays.
The Culture and Education Ministry regulation dated June 9, 2017, states that the decision applies to all schools, but implementation will depend on each school’s readiness.
Both positive and negative responses to the rule have been ignored. However, in reality, the general condition of schools – especially those located in villages – are not ready to implement the change.
The regulation is not as simple as simply extending the students’ time at school. It can undoubtedly be quickly implemented in urban areas, where parents usually arrive home from work at 5 p.m. However, for the additional school hours to be effective, schools are required to meet a number of requirements.
Many things need to be considered aside from the readiness of infrastructure and facilities, including systematic arrangement for the utilization of additional time, and the readiness of teachers.
It would be impossible that the various added activities do not involve teachers, provided they comply with the government decree that regulates teachers\' working hours. Also, it would impossible for the responsibility to be given entirely to off-school institutions with the goal of character education.
Ideally, we appreciate the regulation. The demand by Vice President Jusuf Kalla (Kompas,August 9, 2016) should become a reference. Before fully implementing regulation, the government should conduct a pilot project that also takes into consideration Indonesia\'s diversity as well as the capabilities of its schools. Readiness may become a requirement for school accreditations.
Many schools in urban areas currently apply the five-day schedule. However, there has been no uniform guide on filling additional school hours with enrichment or remedial programs. Instead of providing character development, the extension has not been filled with meaningful activities.
Any education policy is a political policy that should be futuristic, in a sense that it should determine the quality of our future generations. A policy that is still in its trial-and-error phase frequently does more harm than good. The policy of education zoning, for example, was similar to the previous "rayonisasi”program.
A thorough explanation will undoubtedly convince the public, so there will be no prolonged discourse. The Vice President’s message needs to be carried out. The policy is for all schools, but its implementation — which is entrusted to each school with varying complexities — is like throwing a fireball of confusion. Do not ignore the necessity of parents as the child’s first educators.
