Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Says AI and Coding are Elective Subjects, Not Compulsory

JAKARTA - Minister of Primary and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu'ti said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Coding will be implemented as elective subjects, not mandatory in Elementary Schools (SD).

"Those (AI and Coding) are elective subjects, not mandatory," said Mendikdasmen Abdul Mu'ti when he was a speaker at Pamulang University, South Tangerang as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, November 14.

Mu'ti said that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is still reviewing the two subjects in depth. As an initial study, the AI ​​and Coding subjects will be implemented starting from grade 4 of elementary school.

In addition, said Mu'ti, not all schools will implement the two subjects, considering that not all educational institutions under his authority have met the supporting infrastructure needs.

"So not all schools have to organize them. Because not all schools are able to fulfill that because of technology and so on," said Mendikdasmen.

According to him, the idea related to the new subjects is not new because a number of elementary schools in Indonesia have previously taught AI and Coding.

Moreover, the world continues to change, so that competence is needed to answer future challenges. Therefore, strengthening technology, he continued, must start early. He hopes that the subject can be applied in the new school year.

"(trial) We have not studied it yet, hopefully we can start it in the new school year," he said.

Previously, Vice President (Wapres) Gibran Rakabuming Raka told the Ministry of Education and Culture to try to implement AI and Coding subjects at the elementary and junior high school levels.

"So we must not lose to India. Because once again, ladies and gentlemen, to achieve a golden Indonesia we need a golden generation. We want more coding experts, AI experts, machine learning experts, and others," said the Vice President.