INDONESIA: Students Learn Science the Novel Way
|
By Richel Langit-Dursin Named after the smallest particle, ‘Kuark’ science magazine is becoming popular among Indonesian children, including those studying in English-speaking schools in the country. “By introducing Kuark, we want students to enjoy learning science,” said Sanny Djohan, the brains behind ‘Kuark’. “Science should be introduced to children at an early age as it helps them to think critically and logically,” she added. It all started in 2004 after Sanny got frustrated when her son, who at that time was enrolled in one of Jakarta’s elite schools, did not perform well in a science competition. In October 2009, Kuark launched its English edition based on the demand of its young readers from private schools who want to explore more about living things, earth and space, materials and matter, and forces and energy. The Indonesian version is sold nationwide while its English edition is also exported to some Middle East countries. The magazine is published with the guidance of the country’s prominent physicist Yohanes Surya, who wanted to help improve the quality of education in Indonesia. Sanny, however, emphasised that it is not that simple to make science fun as it involves the study of fixed concepts. ‘Kuark’ is also finding it difficult to look for journalists who are knowledgeable about science and scientists who can write well. “Producing the magazine is not easy as we want to maintain high quality,” said Sanny, a management graduate and a mother of two. “Being a scientist and a writer is hard.”
With stories written in narrative form by scientists and teachers, ‘Kuark’s’ main characters study botany, zoology, ecology, physics, astronomy, to name a few. The characters usually ask science-related questions and the answers are explained by their teachers, as well as the magazine’s mascot, a firefly named Kuark. “I like to read ‘Kuark’ because it contains fun science experiments and other informative stories,” said nine-year-old student Gracia Nadaputri, who is a member of the Science Club at her school and is aiming to join the Kuark Science Olympiad next year. “I enjoy reading ‘Kuark’ because it helps me understand what my teachers are teaching in the class,” said Binus Grade 4 student Amanda Latisha Oesef. “Sometimes, I already know the science topics that my teachers are discussing because I have already read them in ‘Kuark’”. The Jakarta-based magazine is published in three levels. Level 1 is for Grades 1 to 2 students. Level 2 is for Grades 3 to 4 and Level 3, for Grades 5 to 6 children. While the Indonesian edition is available for all the three levels, its English version is currently only available for Level 3. Aside from stories, the magazine contains practical experiments and sample exercises for the Kuark Science Olympiad. Indonesian students also use ‘Kuark’ as reference in passing the much-debated national exams. A number of controversies such as rampant cheating by students and sometimes facilitated by teachers surround the national exams. Some educators have urged the Indonesian government to scrap the exams as students who fail the tests are not able to advance to college. Poorly trained teachers and the lack of basic educational facilities also put students at a disadvantage in the national exams. The national exams, they argued, are an assumption that all students across the country have access to the same opportunities and information. The government requires Grade 6, Grade 9 and Grade 12 Indonesian students to take the exams and one of the three subjects tested is Science. Mathematics and Bahasa Indonesia are the two other subjects. “The magazine is helpful to our students,” said Elsie Bait, the vice principal for student development at Binus International School Simprug in South Jakarta, whose elementary students subscribe to the magazine and participate in the Science Olympiad, an annual event organised by ‘Kuark’ since 2007. A total of 11,000 elementary students across the country participated in the Kuark Science Olympiad in 2007. In 2008, there were 30,000 participants. This year, 58,500 students from 33 provinces joined the competition. According to Wahono Sumaryono, deputy head of the state-run Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, the Kuark Science Olympiad can motivate more students to become scientists. “These students have the potential to become the country’s next scientists and researchers,” said Wahono during the awarding of the 2009 Olympiad winners last June. The test consists of multiple-choice questions taken from issues previously discussed in the magazine. Students also answer essay questions based on science experiments published in the paper. Based on test results, most of the winners came from outside Jakarta and Java. This year’s winner for the level 1 category came all the way from Pontianak in West Kalimantan. For level 2, the student who won first place in the Kuark Science Olympiad is from Surabaya, East Java. For level 3, the gold medallist is enrolled in a school in Bekasi, West Java. “The results show that children outside Jakarta are as intelligent as their counterparts in the capital if they are given equal opportunities,” Sanny said, adding that “’Kuark’ can be our tool to educate the world”. (END/IPSAP/AMF/RLD/LLC/211209) |
Initially, the plan was to produce science textbooks, but according to Surya, science textbooks are “hard and heavy” for children. 
Aung Htun (not his real name) is one of the young video journalists featured in the award-winning feature documentary 'Burma VJ (Reporting from a Closed Country)'. 
