They should still be allowed to know what the sun is
Offline This seems to be a serious story.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/education/indonesian-politician-says-science-irrelevant-in-elementary-school/547150
Comedian-turned-lawmaker Dedi Gumelar on Friday aired his support behind the government’s move to erase science and social science from the curriculum of elementary schools.
“In kindergarten, learning how to count and read should be prohibited because that’s the time to play and know nature empirically,” Dedi said. “It is easy to teach children to be smart but we should teach children how to be right.”
The Ministry of Education and Culture on Thursday announced that science and social science will be taken out of the elementary school’s curriculum next year to provide children with less school time.
The ministry said that the new curriculum would emphasize basic mathematics, the Indonesian language, religious studies and patriotism.
But education observer Arif Rahman said elementary schools should still teach at least the basic concept of science and social science without focusing too much on equations and calculations.
“[Students] should know early on what the sun is,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/world/asia/in-indonesia-science-may-give-way-to-religion.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
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Hopefully reason and economics will win out. Will be interesting to track this one.
Religion Kills !!!
Numbers 31:17-18 - Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.
http://jesus-needs-money.blogspot.com/
He's wrong. The best time to teach children, even the basics of science are when they are younger. As we grow older it is more difficult to learn. Children are just as social as adults and they will learn their social skills inside and outside the classroom.
Australian aid to Indonesia
In some areas, like education, development aid from Australia to Indonesia traces back to the early 1950s commencing with scholarships funded through the Colombo Plan.[27]
Under the Australia-Indonesia Partnership (AIP), which includes the A$1 billion committed by Australia following the Indian Ocean tsunami, Australia is providing funds to help rebuild communities in Aceh and in other disaster affected areas, and to promote economic growth across Indonesia. Combined with the pre-existing Australia-to-Indonesia program it boosts the value of the Australia-to-Indonesia aid over a five-year period from 2005 to A$2 billion(figure includes at least A$500 million in concessional loans) [28]
The AIP is governed by a Joint Commission, overseen by the Prime Minister of Australia and the President of Indonesia.
In 2008-09, Indonesia is the largest recipient of Australian aid at a value of A$462 million.[2]
Some examples of the assistance given or to be given (all figures A$):
$50 million for restoration of services in ACEH
600 scholarships
$10 million for emergency response capacity building
$50 million for 'government-to-government partnerships'
$328 million loans/grants for road improvement[29]
$300 million loans/grants for school construction and rehabilitation[30]
I hope Australia reassesses the $300 million it gives Indonesia for school construction every year.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
Considering how much money the government gives to religious schools and to religious teaching in schools, I suppose we shouldn't hold our breath.