Josiah Watanabe

By Sneha Kumar

Being international, our school provides us with a really productive and modern education system. It allows us to learn in a very creative and engaging way, rather than just going over the book and memorizing information without actually understanding it. We are provided with really well-trained and knowledgeable teachers and staff. Moreover, our school is so well facilitated, making learning easier. It allows us to learn through technology. Sadly, this is not how it works with the Indonesian schools here.

The system of education in Indonesia is a major problem in local Indonesian schools. Indonesia has the 4 th largest education system in the world, yet, based on a Landmark Education report of 50 nations Indonesia was ranked the last. Landmark Education is a company that offers programs, which provide personal development of education and life situations. The main reason for Indonesia’ s poor education is actually corruption. There is a funding for the local schools but all its money goes to the people in charge of the education system rather than the schools. Only a third of the people in Indonesia complete Volume basic 5.1 October schooling, which is Kindergarten

up to 12 th grade. Most people start looking for jobs after 9th grade either because their families can’ t afford it or because of the responsibilities they need to take for their family. This leads them to sacrifice their education for the good of their family. Furthermore, a recent report also tells us that less than half of the teachers have minimum qualifications for being a teacher, which means they’ re not educated enough to tutor the students. Most schools also don’ t have some of the core subjects such as Science, Geography, and English till they get to secondary school. Indonesian schools don’ t support a learning in a creative way either, but rather by memorization.

Facilities is also one of the other problems these schools face. Most Indonesian schools lack facilities and equipment we enjoy here in Mountainview. They may have Wi-Fi, but it’ s used only by the school staffs. Computers are limited in the classrooms, leading to students carrying heavy books and taking notes on paper. Furthermore, sport areas, such as the gym and the soccer field are below standards or not even provided.

Now that we know how awesome our school is, let us start this new beginning with thanks-giving for all that we have. We may take this for granted but others don’ t have such a good education system or facilities as we do.