The Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, Nadiem Makarim, thinks that a curriculum that implements standardization of student learning does not produce the desired educational outcomes. For that reason, he plans to change the education curriculum in Indonesia with a new curriculum. This curriculum will use new concepts.
The concept of standardization used in the previous curricula did not produce the desired results. Nadiem believes that it is necessary to embrace diversity in the new curriculum.
Nadiem said that standardization of learning is one of the obstacles in the world of education. So far, the curriculum determines individual material students learn based on their grade level. Every student in various regions in Indonesia must use the same learning material. In fact, according to him, the abilities of students can vary in many areas in Indonesia.
It is hoped that every teacher can freely choose material in the new curriculum according to the abilities of each student. Teachers have the freedom to use the curriculum according to student needs.
However, many parties questioned the ability of teachers to accommodate this. As with the teacher’s contribution to the previous curriculum that has not been so visible. The power of teachers to understand the curriculum needs to be improved.
Careful preparation in giving teachers an understanding of the new curriculum must be better than the previous curriculum. Teachers must be given special training on a large scale to overcome this.
The Minister has created a driving school program with a significant proportion of the number of driving teachers. Mobilizing teachers is a training program from the Ministry of Education and Culture, which aims to produce good leadership abilities. Through this program, he hopes that the driving teacher can become a mentor for other teachers in schools so that training can run in schools.
Nadiem also hopes that technology will play a role in helping teachers apply the new curriculum. With the help of technology, teachers can quickly and accurately identify the abilities of their students.
Although he admitted that it was still challenging to implement, however, according to him, technology can help these efforts.