Controversy Of Mathematical Learning Since Kindergarten In The Midst Of Declining Indonesia's Numerated Score

Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu'ti conducted a question and answer with the media at the Ministry of Education and Culture Office, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (23/10/2024). (ANTARA/HO-Humas Kemendikdasmen/am)

JAKARTA President Prabowo Subianto plans to improve the method of learning mathematics, especially at the elementary and kindergarten levels. The goal is to improve the quality of science and technology obtained by students.

This was conveyed by Prabowo when summoning the Minister of Elementary and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu'ti to the Palace some time ago.

"Earlier, the President emphasized the importance of the quality of learning mathematics and how the learning method was improved, including the consequences for training mathematics teachers," said Abdul Mu'ti, quoted by Antara.

In addition to improving learning methods, President Prabowo will also provide training to mathematics teachers. Prabowo, said Mu'ti, proposed that mathematical learning be introduced starting from the kindergarten (TK) level.

"Earlier there was an offer of how mathematical lessons at the elementary, grade 1-4, and maybe introducing mathematics to children at the kindergarten level," said Mu'ti.

The discourse of introducing mathematics since kindergarten coincided with the emergence of uploads that showed the inability of high school students to read and calculate, abilities that should have been quasified in primary education, went viral on social media.

For example, when a content creator asks a student who can't answer a 6x5 multiplication result. Likewise, when asked about the addition of 6+10, the student who claimed to be in grade 9 answered 60, when 16.

In the results of the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, the score in the field of Indonesian literacy is 359, math 366, and science 383. This is the lowest score in mathematics and literacy since Indonesia followed the PISA survey.

The PISA score in the field of Indonesian mathematics is far behind neighboring countries such as Singapore (575), Vietnam (469), Brunei Darussalam (442), and Malaysia (409). Indonesia only excels from the Philippines (355) and Cambodia (336).

For information, PISA scores are an assessment designed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD to measure the educational achievements of a country. In the 2022 PISA assessment, Indonesia included 14 thousand students.

The National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) Ubaid Matraji said that the decline in PISA's mathematical scores was precisely because students were burdened with too many subjects from an early age. According to his evaluation, the higher the level of education, the less quality the results. In fact, the higher the level of education should be, the higher the quality.

So, according to Ubaid, introducing mathematics since kindergarten is not a solution to increase the Indonesian PISA score which is getting worse.

"It should be kindergarten for child development, where he can be happy, enjoy at school, foster creativity, but not done. What he does is actually learn to read and count," said Ubaid.

"Since the beginning, kindergartens have been taught to read and count. Why it has been 20 years ago, 10 years ago until 2024 there have been no signs of the development of the basic abilities of students in Indonesia progressing. From year to year, it is not an increase in graphs, but it has actually decreased," he added.

Ubaid added, Indonesia has big challenges at the elementary level, especially at the elementary level. Since elementary school, students in Indonesia have been burdened with many lessons such as Indonesian, English, IPA, IPA (now IPAS). Supposedly, said Ubaid, the basic education level should improve the basic ability of reading, writing, and counting.

To finalize this, quality teachers need, but this does not happen in the field. Ubaid again highlighted the ability of teachers who are still below standard. He emphasized that no matter how good the curriculum used, in the hands of teachers who are not qualified, it will not have an impact on improving the quality of learning in schools.

"Without a good quality of teachers, plus the burden that must be borne by children to read a lot can't, math can't, science is weak. We want a lot of supporters to not exist. So there's no change," Ubaid asserted.

In a meeting between the Minister of Education and Culture with the president last week, Abdul Mu'ti emphasized that apart from improving the learning method, Prabowo would also provide training for mathematics teachers.

According to Ubaid's view, teachers at the kindergarten or early childhood education (PAUD) level are very worrying. Because what is happening now, the important thing is that there are PAUD and kindergarten teachers so that anyone can teach without seeing what their educational qualifications and abilities are like

"The pre-SD eigenjang is still being managed not systematically, it's still what it is, the important thing is that children learn without seeing the qualifications of teachers or assistants at the kindergarten level. This should be evaluated," he said.

Meanwhile, education observer Darmaningtyas mentioned the importance of introducing mathematics from an early age. He emphasized that learning mathematics is not only a number and formula, but also a foundation for building logical and rational thinking skills in children.

'Mathematics is like a universal language. Since kindergarten, children have started to be taught the basic concept of counting. This is a very good first step to train their brains to think systematically and logically," said Darmaningtyas.

However, he stressed that learning math must be in accordance with the development stage of children, because the mathematics of kindergarten children is different from mathematics for elementary, junior high, or high school students. Most importantly, said Darmaningtyas, children are happy not to be afraid of mathematics.

One of the greatest benefits of early learning mathematics is the ability to think rationally. Mathematics teaches us to analyze information, find solutions, and make decisions based on facts," he said.

By getting used to thinking rationally, children will be more critical of the information they receive. They are not easily influenced by hoaxes or fake news circulating on social media.