#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Teaching In Thailand >  >  > Teaching in Asia >  >  Indonesia : The school of corruption

## Mid

*Editorial Desk*

*The school of corruption    * 
  19-06-2011

The  recent shocking revelation of widespread teacher-sponsored cheating in  Indonesian national examinations and the way authorities have handled  the reports illustrate how, where and why the corrupt mentality has been  nurtured.

 The reported massive cheating has also  cast big shadows of doubt over the exceptionally high passing rates  nationally, which the government planned to use to measure the success  of its national education programme that saps 20 per cent of the state  budget. 

 The national exam system was designed to  improve the standard of education nationwide, from ill-equipped schools  in the impoverished Papua hinterland to affluent and well equipped  schools in Jakarta. But widespread cheating suspected to have occurred  throughout the country every year means the government must now return  to the drawing board to rethink its well-intentioned, albeit  controversial, policy.

 In Surabaya, housewife Siami became an  icon of honesty after courageously sounding the alarm with Mayor Tri  Rismaharini and subsequently had her whole family evicted by irate  parents who accused her of tainting the schools reputation. Siamis sin  was apparently retelling the mayor her son Alifs story that a teacher  had asked him, as the smartest child in the sixth grade, to pass around  the answers to the tests that a teacher had prepared for the whole  class.

 In Jakarta, cheating graced media  headlines when a Pesanggrahan 6 state primary school pupils parents  filed a case with the National Commission for Children Protection after  the school management refused to look into it.

 Particularly flabbergasting is the  schools and government bureaucrats tendency to try to cover up their  dishonest practices after the scams went public, simply to try to make  things look good. The underlying message is that students learn that  goals justify means at school.

 Pundits have linked the dishonesty  instilled in our innocent children with the well-known corrupt mentality  of our leaders, from top politicians to clerics, government bureaucrats  and educators. 

 The silence of the public about this  cheating also adds credence to perceptions that corrupt practices have  become an acceptable norm here. While the loathed corrupt,  authoritarian New Order regime under Suharto is now 13 years behind us,  corruption has only become more widespread. 

 Worse, law enforcement against corrupt  people often defies a sense of justice, and thus fails to serve as a  deterrent. Many corruption convicts, particularly those who are  politically wired, breathe fresh air after short spells in prison thanks  to the governments generosity in granting them remissions or  conditional release for humanitarian reasons. Not to mention special  privileges that allow them to travel while serving detention, as in the  case of former tax official Gayus H. Tambunan.

 Thats why corruption convicts are unashamed about flashing their big smiles in public, rather than showing remorse.

 If dishonesty is being taught at our schools, hope for the ongoing crusade against corruption is remote.

asianewsnet.net

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## GRUMPY

This shit is close to home for me Mid.

Honesty Prize for Duo Who Exposed Indonesia Exam  Scam

A mother and son who revealed mass cheating at a school in  Surabaya have received an honesty award bestowed by the National  Commission for Child Protection. 

The award, the first given out  by the agency known as KPAI, was presented to Siami and her son, Alifah  Ahmad Maulana. 

Acting on a report from Alifah, Siami told the  press in early June of her suspicion of mass cheating at her son’s  school, State Elementary School 2 in Gadel subdistrict, in the national  examination for the sixth grade. 

“Honesty is an expensive thing  in these times, but it should be implanted from childhood,” said KPAI  chairwoman Maria Ulfah Anshor, adding that honesty was an increasingly  rare quality. 

Maria said the award coincided with the launch of  the KPAI’s “Movement of Indonesian Children for Honesty.” 

“Somehow,  I believe that there are still many honest people out there, but most  of them are afraid to speak out the truth because there are threats from  other people” Maria said. 

She said the award was a symbol that  honesty was not completely extinct in Indonesia. 

“It is expected  to provide motivation for others, especially children, to be honest  wherever they are, from now until they mature later,” she said. 

“I  will wait for another Siami and Alif in Indonesia.” 

Siami told  the media that her son’s teachers had forced him to share the answers on  his national examination with his classmates. 

Her action  angered the parents of the other students and led to them being forced  to leave their East Java home town. Siami’s revelations led to the  removal of the school’s principal and two of its teachers. 

Magdalena  Sitorus, a former KPAI commissioner, said children should not feel  compelled to follow the erroneous wishes of adults out of fear or a  desire to please the adults. 

“Start with a small lie and then it  will become a habit. That’s bad, because the children are the future of  our country. Can you imagine what our country would be like in the  future if prospective leaders are accustomed to dishonesty?” Magdalena  said. 

She added that parents and teachers had an important role  to prevent that from occurring. 

“This Siami case might be an  example of similar problems in other schools that were never revealed.  We need a figure like her to reveal this and fix the problem,” she said.  

While being ostracized by the school and the parents of other  students, Siami and Alifah’s courage had earned them widespread support  and praise, including from Vice President Boediono, the People’s  Consultative Assembly and members of the public. 

Many students  at Alifah’s school claimed they did not use the answers because they did  not trust their accuracy. Education authorities decided against making  students resit the test.


Honesty Prize for Duo Who Exposed Indonesia Exam Scam | The Jakarta Globe

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