New Indonesian Ambassador to Dominica her Excellency Prianti Gagarin Djatmiko Singgih has congratulated the Government of Dominica on its progress made at achieving universal secondary education as well as its success in meeting some of the millennium development goals.
The Indonesian ambassador made those remarks during her official presentation of credentials to Dominica’s head of state His Excellency Dr. Nicholas Liverpool on Wednesday. July 18, 2012.
“I would like to congratulate the government of Dominica on this achievement of the Millennium Development goals in accomplishing universal secondary education by 83%, reducing extreme poverty from 39% in 2003 to 28.8% in 2009, improving national health and reducing child mortality.”
Indonesia stands firm behind a policy that education is the foundation of a better human resource. Dominica established Diplomatic relations with the Republic of Indonesia in April of 1994. Throughout the years of relations the Government of Indonesia has offered annual cultural scholarships to Dominican youth to pursue studies in Indonesia. The new ambassador confirms that this collaboration will continue.
“Given the encouraging response starting from 2011, the Government of Indonesia has offered Dominican students a scholarship program called ‘Developing countries partnerships scholarship’ in order to obtain graduate and post graduate degrees in various fields of study in the most prestigious universities throughout Indonesia”, she says.
The new Indonesian ambassador to Dominica says the Indonesian Government is looking forward to heightened relations between the both countries through other training opportunities.
“Another way in which we can increase our people to people interaction is through our diplomatic corps. In this regard, as former head for Centre for Education and Training in the Ministry of Education in Indonesia, we would like very much to offer diplomatic training for mid- career diplomas and as such we will be discussing this with your Ministry of Education here.”
Like Dominica, tourism is one of the most important aspects of Indonesia’s national revenues. The Indonesian ambassador to Dominica said that the Government of Indonesia has developed a special “creative economy” program to boost the numbers of tourists coming to Indonesia. She noted that this program is also geared at encouraging villages in Indonesia to become attractive destinations for tourists by promoting customs, value and culture.
Ambassador Singgih said for the year 2012, her government has targeted two hundred villages to develop themselves into touristic destinations. The new ambassador is hoping that the Ministry of Tourism in Dominica will seek to pattern on tourism initiatives adopted by tourism authorities in Indonesia to boost the island’s tourist product.
“I think it’s an honor to offer the government of Dominica a chance to have learning experiences in the enhancement of its tourism industry especially in the development of diversification of tourism destination, such as developing touristic villages similar to Indonesia, and the development of human resources in collaboration with the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association- (D.H.T.A)”.
The new Indonesian ambassador during her exchanges with the Dominican head of state pledged continued good relations between both countries.
“The Indonesian Government would like to maintain this relationship as well as heighten cooperation to more concrete and mutually beneficial cooperation”.
In accepting the letters of credentials from new Indonesian ambassador to Dominica, His Excellency Liverpool expressed confidence that the new ambassador will continue the work of her predecessors in further strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between Dominica and the republic of Indonesia.
It is clear that Ms Ambassador sat in her air on office and look at figures presented to her, because on the ground it is quite different
We do have a tendency to to react impulsively and post our comments accordingly, when perhaps it would be wise to reflect before putting pen to paper.
Universal Secondary Education is a lofty goal and ought to be applauded, regardless of the hue of the political party/parties in power at the time.
There are things we can learn from other nations in this field.
Indonesia, with population of over 220 million has a constitution that provides for free- and compulsory education up to age 15 (lower secondary level). Education beyond that level,”upper seondary” is not free. The constitution also requires the country to allocate 20% of their annual budget to education.
There are some crucial differences;
– Teachers must have certification
– Primary school students must pass a national examination at grade 6 before they can transition to secondary education. Even at primary level tests are compulsory every trimester and at the end of the school year. Failure to pass the latter will lead to repeats, which generally ammount to 1% of pupils (with females having a far lower failure rate than males).
– Whether privately- or state run all schools are subject to the same examination criteria. There are universal national standards.
This adherence to measurable, compulsory and unversal standards may explain the high literacy rate enjoyed by this country, 92% for the adult population (24 yrs. and older) and nearly 97% for those in the 15-24 yr. age group.
Universal Secondary Education by all means, but never at the expense of quality and the “universal prospects” of our children.
* The relevant data were gleaned from the 2010 Unesco report on education in Indonesia.
here’s the crucial part in your own post as i quote
“Primary school students MUST pass a national examination at grade 6 before they can transition to secondary education”
SO this lil area of ours is what’s killing it… and as long as all billy, bimbo and pauline can enter secondary education with a fail, failing and failurer then our U.S.E is damned….
@malatete. You have posted something that you have not understood… We need to adopt their model. It’s of a high quality. They must not come and praise the crap we have on island called U.S.E as being Praiseworthy.
Wake up my people. Universal secondary education for all..it was time. For those students who are not academically there that’s where the special education teachers come in. Special education comes under a broad spectrum; it spans from those who are gifted to those who are physically and mentally challenged. In between we have those students who are interested in learning special skills. We can do this people and we should not be afraid of change. The bigger the risk the bigger the rewards…agricultural school, beauty school, carpentry, mason, electrical and plumbing school etc. for those students who are not academically inclined.
I don’t share her views at all she has no idea what the teachers and even the students going through with that universal education system.
all you ignorant people, you all will say better later!
HILARIOUS. Does this person even know where our students are at now in comparism to where they were in the past… FOOLISHNESS!!!
a perfect example of people staying high offices n braying…. ms ambassador, we welcome you to our land… but the praises you sing don’t reflect the reality on the ground… do have a dive at champagne n visit the hot springs b4 you depart….
For all who remember what our system was BEFORE
When Common Entrance was in full effect and JSP bread mason’s, carpenters and other trademen this can be dismissed. We may look good but in comparison with where we were we are steadily on the decline.
Graduating illiterates is not progress
Stuppes! Utter Rubbish!. This Commess in Dominica is USE?
Do you all know that IMF used to congratulate Dominica too.
What is the state of the economy now. People catching their tail North South, East and West to make ends meet.A DESPERATELY POOR COUNTRY.