Jakarta, IO – Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Dikbud-Ristek) Minister Nadiem Makarim abolished the reading, writing and arithmetic (calistung) tests for new student admissions at elementary schools (SD) and the equivalent Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI).
Nadiem views that there is a misunderstanding in the application of calistung, including in the concept of its teaching. This, according to him, will make children think that school is not fun. However, he said that it does not mean that calistung is not important to be taught at the Early Childhood Education (PAUD) level.
“In my opinion, this is something that upset me. That the calistung test is used as a criteria for elementary school admission. This can no longer be tolerated,” said Nadiem, reported CNN Indonesia, Wednesday (29/3).
Nadiem believes that the perception of calistung in PAUD has a number of consequences for children. According to Nadiem, the most frightening one is when very young children feel that learning is not fun which he said would be difficult to reverse at later stage.
Another consequence, in his view, is the loss of a child’s emotional intelligence. He said this ability is more important than calistung because it concerns children’s communication and learning abilities in the future.
“So with that in mind, our current policy will be to mandate the education unit for the first time to eliminate all types of calistung tests from the elementary school admission process. There is no gray area here. Every child has the right to go to elementary school,” explained Nadiem.
Read: French Navy makes port call to Indonesia in Joanne d’Arc 2023 mission
However, he stressed that elementary school teachers must not regard that they have no responsibility to teach calistung because it is the duty of PAUD. He claims that there are still many children in Indonesia who do not have the opportunity to attend PAUD before enrolling at elementary school. (un)