Teacher Union Gives 3 Notes Supporting Mendikbudristek Nadiem Removes Calistung Test Requirements For Entering Elementary School

JAKARTA - The Federation of Indonesian Teachers' Unions (FSGI) stated that it supports the Minister of Education and Technology Nadiem Makarim to eliminate reading tests, wrote, calculating (calistung) in the Acceptance of New Students (PPDB) for Elementary Schools (SD).

There are three things that underlie FSGI's support for the abolition of the calistung requirements for SD PPDB, one of which is related to encouraging interest in reading in children.

"First, the calistung test for the selection of new students at the elementary school level has encouraged PAUD teachers (Education of Early Childhoods) and Kindergarten to teach reading, write and calculate things that should have been taught to children aged 4-6 years. So that many children can now read at an early age, but not like or love to read in the future, "said FSGI Expert Council Chairman Retno Listyarti in a short message, Thursday.

According to Retno, coercion in learning calistung that is too heavy before time has the potential to disrupt and burden children's mentality at an age who should only know letters, numbers, and light count.

Furthermore, the second consideration is related to the confirmation of legal certainty for the implementation of the PPDB selection at the SD level.

For schools that carry out PPDB by selection of calistung, it is confirmed that it is in accordance with the provisions of Government Regulation Number 17 of 2010 concerning Education Management and Implementation as well as Regulation of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Number 1 of 2021 concerning Acceptance of New Students.

Then finally, the third consideration is that the implementation of the PPDB selection should be based on the minimum age, which is 7 years.

Read write and count should start when the child is 7 years old or when the child is right in elementary school. So FSGI considered it inappropriate to apply a calistung test when the child wanted to register for elementary school.

In addition to supporting the elimination of the calistung requirements from the SD PPDB selection, FSGI submitted a proposal so that the Ministry of Education and Culture could improve the contents and materials of the textbooks in the 1st grade of elementary school.

FSGI argues that current elementary school-level textbooks are contrary to the policy of eliminating calistung because textbooks currently circulating are still dominated by long and complicated writing and reading.

"This is homework that must also be considered, the first grade elementary school textbooks should be in line with the independent policy of learning episode 24," said Retno.

Furthermore, FSGI also encourages Kemendikbudristek to educate teachers and parents that when children enter elementary school it does not mean that children are able to be calistung.

Because actually calistung is a basic lesson that children need to understand from an early age in order to make it easier for them to accept future lessons and not to make it difficult for children.