2006年VOA标准英语-US Assists Indonesia with Education Reforms

By Chad Bouchard
Jakarta
16 November 2006 

Students chat after practicing to chant verses of the holy book of Koran at Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia (File photo)

The U.S. launched an initiative in 2003 meant to bolster¹ Indonesia's education reform efforts. The White House says that when President Bush visits Indonesia next week, this program will be a major topic of his discussions with the government. One major focus of the program is modernizing² teaching techniques at Muslim religious schools, which are sometimes a breeding ground for extremism.

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Tradition is a key element at this Islamic boarding school, or madrassa, in central Jakarta.  Children recite a kind of nursery rhyme that commands reverence³ to God, and respect for parents.

Students at the Ibtidaiyah Al Ma' Muriyah madrassa also study Arabic and learn to read the Koran.  But this class differs from other madrassa classrooms, and Indonesian classrooms in general. The children sit in groups around small tables, facing each other rather than the front of the class. They learn such subjects as science and math by participating in hands-on activities and group projects.

These new, modest-sounding techniques have been introduced to Indonesian teachers through a $157 million program from the United States designed to raise educational standards.

James Hope, head of the U.S.A.I.D. education office in Indonesia, is the program's director. He explains why the new classroom configuration⁴ is a departure.

"If you go to a typical Indonesian classroom, the desks are in rows. The teacher is not really facing the class, he's usually writing on the blackboard, kids are quiet, they're not asking questions, they're not working together in groups," he said. "And so they move the desks and put them into groups, so that the kids are working together using problem-solving skills."

Hope says the techniques get kids engaged in the learning process, which results in improved performance in math, science and reading. He prefers to dwell on the basic educational elements of the program, and avoids talking about a broader concern: in parts of the Muslim world, including Indonesia, some madrassas are used to teach Muslim extremism.

Indonesia has suffered several terrorist bombings in recent years, including the 2002 bombing on the island of Bali that killed 202 people. The organization behind the bombings is a Muslim extremist group called Jemaah Islamiyah, and many of its recruits have come from the country's madrassas.

Agus Dwiyanto is vice⁵ rector of Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia's largest. He says although the quality of education at Islamic schools can be very high, the largely religious curriculum can be narrow, and tends to isolate⁶ students from mainstream⁷ society.

This, he says, may leave some of them vulnerable to recruitment by terrorist groups.

"We would like to reduce the gap between the Islamic tradition's education system and the modern one. It's very much different, when we talk about the curriculum, about the teachers," said Dwiyanto. "Ah, that contributes, I believe, in the problem that now we are facing - about radicalism⁸ and so on."

Indonesia ranks low among Southeast Asian nations in accessibility to school, teaching quality, and high school graduation rates.

In 2003, the country's legislature passed an ambitious education reform law, but the reforms are expensive and difficult to implement⁹.

For example, the country now requires a higher standard of teacher training and certification, but budgets have been threadbare over the last three years. The Indonesian constitution requires 20 percent of the annual budget to go toward education, but the allocation for 2007 is just nine-point-one percent.

Although the 2003 reform law guarantees the right to education for everyone up to the age of 15, it does not require the government to pay for it. Poverty is widespread here, and tuition and school fees can add up to more than half a poor family's yearly income. Many kids have to work to help their families survive.

James Hope says the U.S. program aims to help the country follow through with its reform plans, so that fewer students will be left behind.

"[The] enrollment¹⁰ rate is great for starting school - 95 percent or thereabouts. But by the time you get to junior high, only about 60 percent actually enter junior high," he said. "Of that 60 percent, only about half of them make it into high school, and then by the time you get through high school and into university, you're down and maybe five to 10 percent of those who actually started school in first grade…"

Twenty percent of Indonesia's children are taught in madrassas, but Gadjah Mada University's Dwiyanto says only about 100 of the university's five thousand new students each year are madrassa graduates. He says the madrassa curriculum does not prepare students well for degree programs, and Gadjah Mada is trying to close the gap by actively¹¹ recruiting students, and training madrassa teachers.

Educators at the U.S.-supported Ibtidaiyah Al Ma' Muriyah madrassa say they are confident their students are being well prepared for higher degrees. Students' test scores have gone up since the American program began 18 months ago.

A child receives special tutoring in a small group during an Arabic reading class.

The school's headmaster, Juwaeriyah, says teacher training has helped teachers learn how to keep the students engaged.

"We really can see the positive results. We don't receive aid in the form of money, but I think the trainings and workshops are more valuable than aid in the form of money," said Juwaeriyah. "We are happy with what the program has provided at the moment, but we still hope that they can extend their assistance."

A little more than half of the U.S. program's original $157 million has been spent during the first 18 months, with assistance reaching 1,000 schools and 25,000 Indonesian educators. The five-year program is scheduled to extend through 2010, although this depends on continued funding by the U.S. Congress.

Senior Indonesian officials say when President Bush is here next week, the talks with him will include the possibility of boosting educational assistance.

1 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

2 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

3 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

4 configuration   

n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置

参考例句：

• Geographers study the configuration of the mountains.地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
• Prices range from $119 to $199,depending on the particular configuration.价格因具体配置而异，从119美元至199美元不等。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

7 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

8 radicalism   

n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义

参考例句：

• His radicalism and refusal to compromise isolated him. 他的激进主义与拒绝妥协使他受到孤立。
• Education produced intellectual ferment and the temptations of radicalism. 教育带来知识界的骚动，促使激进主义具有了吸引力。

9 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

10 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

11 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。