Earlier morning classes

(Letter to Jakarta Post. Published on 11 December, 2008)

Page four of The Jakarta Post’s Nov. 28 edition was very interesting reading, especially for anyone who likes to connect dots. At the top of the page was an article titled, “City proceeds with plan to change school time”.

This article explained that the city was planning to ignore protests and criticisms of their plan to force small children to go to school earlier in the morning. They considered that making children start school at 6.30 a.m. instead of 7.00 a.m. will help solve the traffic problems in Jakarta. (As if the traffic congestion was their fault!)

Below that was another article titled, “Many kids in city too short for age”. This article said that 20 percent of students in one school that was studied were malnourished. Especially interesting was this: “The lack of emphasis on eating a healthy breakfast every day is one reason for malnutrition. Ali said that kids today prefer to have a snack at school instead of eating a proper breakfast.”

It occurs to me that perhaps one of the reasons why many kids might not be eating a proper breakfast at home with their parents is lack of time in the morning. With an ordinary household having between 2 and 6 children, time is in short supply in the mornings, especially with everyone, including parents, trying to use the bathroom and get ready to leave the house. And, as every parent knows, getting children to eat in a hurry is never easy.

So, the brilliant plan of Governor Fauzi Bowo is to give parents and their children even less time to get ready in the mornings? With 20 percent of students in Jakarta already malnourished, possibly due to their lack of time to eat a decent breakfast, I wonder what percentage of half-starved children the governor would consider a problem before he started looking for more intelligent solutions.

Thirty percent? Fifty percent? The previous governor Sutiyoso has already presented us with a rate of 20 percent malnourishment among the city’s children after his ten years in power. Congratulations.

I wonder what percentage of malnourished children Governor Fauzi Bowo is hoping to create for the city before he leaves office?

GENE NETTO
Jakarta

Source: TheJakartaPost.com

Salam Café: Muslim Talk Show from Australia

Assalamu’alaikum wr.wb.,

http://www.sbs.com.au/salamcafe/

Salam Café is a comedy-oriented talk show on SBS television station in Australia. The hosts are all Muslims and most of the audience seems to be Muslim as well. They use humor to discuss a range of issues relevant to Muslims, especially those living in Australia.

There are no subtitles, but this show might be useful if you want to practice your English by watching and listening to the discussions. You might have some trouble trying to understand their Australian accents, but the more you listen, the easier it will become.

SBS is a government-funded public television station, much like TVRI in Indonesia. I have only watched the first season so far, but some of their jokes are quite funny.
The shows are streamed over the internet, and you can choose high, medium or low bandwidth.

I hope you enjoy it.

Wassalamu’alaikum wr.wb.,
Gene

John McCain: A Make-Believe Maveric

This article is quite long but it’s worth it. The information is absolutely stunning.
I cannot understand how a guy like this could possibly be running for President in the USA.

Regards,
Gene

Make-Believe Maverick

Thursday 16 October 2008

by: Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone

Inside Iran’s Fury

If you are interested to know the background as to why Iran and the USA are so opposed to each other at the moment (nuclear standoff, Axis of Evil, etc.) then this article is very interesting reading.

Many of the readers’ comments are also interesting. One person asks “Why didn’t I learn this in US history class?”
I wonder why…!!!
Hope you find it insightful if you are interested in the subject.
Regards,
Gene

Inside Iran’s Fury

Scholars trace the nation’s antagonism to its history of domination by foreign powers

• By Stephen Kinzer
• Smithsonian magazine, October 2008

Let the Rich Bail Them Out

This is worth reading. It’s about the only intelligent opinion I have read about the economic crisis in America and the Bailout proposed by George Bush. It’s a shame this senator isn’t running for president.

It’s interesting that his amendment to the Bailout bill before Congress, which would make the ultra-rich help pay for the Bailout, was defeated in the Senate vote. So much for US senators speaking on behalf of the people. They are clearly acting on behalf of the wealthiest few who give them campaign contributions.
If this is how a 300 year old democracy ends up, then I shudder to think what Indonesia will be like in the future after a few more decades of liberal democracy. It’s bad enough now!

Wednesday 01 October 2008

Original »

By: Bernie Sanders, Senate Floor Speech

Why I would rather starve than send my child to a public school in Indonesia

A friend wrote this and sent this to me. For the better-off parents in Indonesia, there are expensive private schools available. For the poor, there are only inadequate state schools that are staffed by teachers who are also often inadequate and have no idea how to teach. I wonder what the future of this country will be like when tens of millions of children have no access to a decent education and can easily be labeled as ‘autistic’ or anything else by their incompetent teachers.

When will this country get a government that actually cares about education?

Regards,

Gene

##########

This morning I was late for work. As I was making my morning coffee my housekeeper mentioned that her son was not doing well at school. This took me by surprise as her son started year 1 of elementary school only one week ago. How could he not be doing well? ‘Why?’ I asked. ‘He can’t write, his teachers say he is lazy and unwilling’.

I took a deep breath and launched into my speech about the lack of developmentally appropriate practice in schools here. I reminded her that my 6 year old who had also just started school was also only just beginning to write. I also told her that I believe a teacher has to promote intrinsic motivation and I was sure the reason her son was not enjoying learning how to write was because he wasn’t finding it interesting or valuable. He was obviously being pushed too hard in the wrong ways. Learning needs to be fun. Learning needs to be interesting. Bottom line is, if children are engaged and interested they’ll learn and if they’re bored, they won’t.

She listened carefully nodding her head in agreement and then asked ‘What is Autism?’ This immediately grabbed my attention. Again I asked why. ‘Because my son’s teacher told me he has autism’. ‘What the ???? Hang on a minute! What do you mean your son’s teacher told you he has autism?’

I might mention at this stage that the little boy in question plays with my own children in our home 6 days a week. I know him well, I watch him play with my children. He’s very communicative, likes to play all kinds of different games, has no problem using his imagination. In fact aside from the fact that he jumps on my sofa, I would say he’s very similar to my own 6 year old. So what was the basis for the diagnosis? The child doesn’t respond well to the teacher. He won’t do what he’s told. Who is this teacher? No one. No background in childhood psychology. No experience with autistic children. Her only claim to fame is that she once had an autistic child in her class. So according to this public school teacher a child is autistic if:

a. he can’t write after only attending 1 week of elementary school.

b. he won’t do as he’s told.

So what was the parents reaction? Of course even though they had no idea what autism was they believed that there was something wrong with their child (a teacher had told them so) so they went home and punished him with hours of writing practice. Did it help? Of course not. I spent the rest of the morning downloading information in Bahasa Indonesia about Autism so she could understand that her child was NOT AUTISTIC.

Jakarta: In Dire Need of Improvement

Because I have been living in Jakarta since 1995, I can unfortunately confirm that everything in this article is true. It is very saddening that each new government brings very little with it in terms of change. What we get is more of the same: more corruption, more pollution, more sales of national assets, more justice-for-sale, more apathy towards the real problems that are faced by the people.

I keep wondering how long it will be before the people of this nation get a government that they can be proud of.

Gene

Jakarta: In Dire Need of Improvement

Some highlights:

· In between towering super-structures, humble kampongs house the majority of the city dwellers, who often have no access to basic sanitation, running water or waste management.

· While almost all major capitals in the Southeast Asian region are investing heavily in public transportation, parks, playgrounds, sidewalks and cultural institutions like museums, concert halls and convention centers, Jakarta remains brutally and determinately ‘pro-market’ profit-driven and openly indifferent to the plight of a majority of its citizens who are poor.

· Despite the fact that the Indonesian capital is for many foreign visitors a ‘hell on earth,’ the local media describes Jakarta as “modern,” “cosmopolitan,” and “a sprawling metropolis.”

· Despite being a maritime city, Jakarta has been separated from the sea, with the only focal point being Ancol, with a tiny, mostly decrepit walkway along the dirty beach dotted with private businesses.

· There are no sidewalks in the entire city, if one applies international standards to the word “sidewalk.”

· In Jakarta, there are hardly any benches for people to sit and relax, and no free drinking water fountains or public toilets.

· The country spends the third lowest amount in the world on education (according to The Economist, only1.2 percent of its GDP) after Equatorial Guinea and Ecuador (there the situation is now rapidly improving with the new progressive government).

· Could this statement be reversed? Can Jakarta find the strength and solidarity to mobilize in time catch up with Kuala Lumpur? Can decency overcome greed? Can corruption be eradicated and replaced by creativity? Can private villas shrink in size and green spaces, public housing, playgrounds, libraries, schools and hospitals expand? An outsider like me can observe, tell the story and ask questions. Only the people of Jakarta can offer the answers and solutions.

Read the full article here:

Jakarta: In Dire Need of Improvement

Andre Vltchek

Worldpress.org contributing editor

July 26, 2007

Is five too soon to start school?

By Sean Coughlan BBC News education reporter

Do children start school at too young an age in England? Is childhood freedom being curtailed too soon?

Compared to most other western European countries, English pupils are extremely early starters in the classroom.

While compulsory education begins in England at the age of five (with many children actually starting at four), in countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Finland, school doesn’t begin until the age of seven.

English children are ploughing through a fixed curriculum while their continental counterparts are still ploughing up the kindergarten sandpit or playing at home.

But which system delivers the best results?

The young ones

This far-reaching question has been raised by the Cambridge-based Primary Review which is scrutinising how primary education is organised. And its conclusion challenges the idea that an early start has long-term advantages.

“The assumption that an early starting age is beneficial for children’s later attainment is not well supported in the research and therefore remains open to question,” says the report.

Translations Of The Qur’an In Various Languages

For those who need translations of Al Qur’an in other languages, it is available here. The text can only be read, and cannot be copied. The translations are provided from the King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex.

Translations of Al Qur’an in various languages (Read Only)

Some of the languages are:

• English
• German
• Chinese
• Greek
• Korean
• Indonesian
• Spanish
• Urdu
• Filipino
• Thai
• Turkish
• Sindhi
• And so on

The Solution To Indonesia’s Educational Problems Is In The Hands Of Parents

[A parent asked me what the solution was to the massive problems in education in this country that I keep writing about. This is my response.]

I tried to answer this matter in my post Confessions Of A Teacher 2. I am certain that the only way to solve the problems in education here is for parents to start caring.

There is no real history of trade unions in this country, and so parents are not used to the concept of joining forces with others to fight for a greater good. If we look at many trade unions around the world, many of them were initially opposed by governments and businessmen, but eventually they won their struggle and got rights and protections for their members. Even though some governments used every possible method to try and crush the unions (threats from the police, legal threats, physical threats, bribery, beatings, etc.), in the end they gave up.

Why?

Because there is no industry without workers. This history of unions shows that a committed group of people who are fighting for a common goal can achieve good results. They can create win-win solutions, rather than suffering at the hands of unscrupulous or uncaring bosses.

The problem in education here is essentially the same. Unfortunately, the majority of Indonesian’s have never joined a union so they don’t have this concept of a united struggle in their minds. They won’t think about going on strike to achieve a certain goal. They think that public demonstrations are things that only university students do.

However, if we want to see real change in a short time, then I think this is the only real solution. Parents have to join forces and present a united front to the government and demand action.

Imagine if 1 million parents in the capital joined a demonstration demanding better education for all of the country’s children. Would the government be able to ignore that? A flood of people managed to remove President Marcos of the Philippines from power. But they had a united purpose. In Indonesia, most parents only care about a good education for their own children, and they don’t care what kind of run-down school their neighbours children have to go to.

If we want change in education in this country, then ordinary parents have to start caring about the children of other people, and they have to unite and demand real change from the government. Until that happens, then I think that parents will just be ignored, and nothing will change.

Everything is in the hands of the parents. They can unite and demand change, or they can do nothing as individuals. It’s their choice.

Gene Netto