The Removal of Computer Information Technology Subject in Curriculum 2013

By: Lusiana Oktaria

Computer technology is nowadays not a brand new thing among people's lives. It's generally known by many levels of society and ages. In this modern era, using computer technology isn't for having a cool and sophisticated life only, but it's created to help people easier in doing their jobs. For examples, the jobless people are helped in seeking job vacancies by using computer through the internet, and it's easy for them in making job applications or scanning their certificates as the job requirements. For working people or office employees even teachers, computer technology helps them in doing their works. For an instance, Human Resources Department needs to input the list of their employees data by using computer because it's easier and more efficient, instead of writing it on a piece of paper or book. Another example is Finance Department. It'll be much more easier for them who work in this department because almost every day they deal with a lot of payment lists, payments of orders, trading lists and many else. It'll be a waste of time if they are still using manual way to do all those works. Even for today’s teachers, they are expected and even recommended to make instructional media for teaching their students by using computer. They deliver the lessons more interesting through the power point program, they search and collect the additional materials for teaching from the internet, and they even do some administrations tasks regarded to their students’ data and many other things.

Now, let me take another example from students both from school and college. Everyday students are faced with many subjects based on their grades, and of course teachers will give them assignments that have to be finished due to the deadline. Some of students’ assignments, perhaps such as History, need a help by using computer. When the teacher asks them to make a report or paper about related subject, and the teacher gives a deadline. That means students must arrange the time to be more efficient and easier in doing their assignments by using computer. So, it's all about easiness and efficiency.

Well, the conclusion is computer technology gives us easiness and time efficiency. If it is so, we can say computer technology is absolutely important in our lives. But, it still become a big question among some teachers and maybe among the parents or society since the changing of the education curriculum from curriculum 2006 to curriculum 2013, which in this curriculum, especially in high school grades, the subject of Computer Information Technology or known as TIK has been deleted.

I had ever heard once the speaker in my workshop told us the reason why TIK was finally deleted from the list of the school subjects. He said that in curriculum 2013, the students are hoped and expected to be able and understand the usage of and how to operate computer technology. But, the problem is how can they understand or able to use it if they are never taught how to use it? Are they expected to learn by themselves? How about the students who come from low economic background? Can they learn it by themselves? In fact, they do not even have computers or even laptops.

Another issue is that it is true there are students who are able to study by themselves without teachers' direction, but many of them who aren't. How can we solve this issue? Moreover, there are students who have computers or laptops but they don't even know how to operate them maximally. They do still need directions from the teachers.

The changing regulation also happened in the procedure of National Examination for the last two or three years. The students are accustomed in using paper test, but since the changing of National Examination regulation, they have to do the test by using computer. That's what we call Computer Based National Examination or well known as UNBK. Before the examination, students are trained by joining the simulation of National Examination in their each school. This is held in order to make students accustomed in doing test by using computer. It is faster because students only need to click one of the options to choose the right answer, and absolutely it's efficient because the 2 hours of examination time can be used maximally by the students.

In other words, it is obviously right that computer technology is always, still, and will always be needed to make us easier in doing all kinds of tasks with more efficient time. Moreover, the computer technology is always up to date and it's developed from time to time.

So, if the computer technology is necessary for us, then why is it deleted from the school subjects or from the curriculum itself especially in high school grade? Our next generations are actually thirst of technology especially the positive one. They will face bigger challenge in the future. They have to be able in differentiating the positive and negative effect from the computer technology itself. In the future, they will use or even need this computer technology more than we do today. In conclusion, we just cannot let them learn by themselves because in this case they still need to be directed and I am sure the students have so many questions about how to use the technology of computer properly.

I am very concern actually for this situation since I experienced it by myself that I finally knew and understood how to operate this technology after I was educated by the teachers at schools and the lecturers in my colleges. Logically, how can our next generations understand and operate this technology if they don’t have a chance to be educated the technology itself? I do hope and at the same time I would like to request, based on what I had experienced by myself, it is better for students to be taught again the subject of Computer Information Technology.