f) The English Programme: current status and future prospects
Current status
It is important to note that the SBI project in Indonesia is relatively new, and has had little time so
far to have any real impact. Educational initiatives of this kind can often take decades to have the
desired effect, whereas many of the SBI schools in Indonesia have been operating their systems for
two years or less. It is important for governments and Ministries around the world, and all
stakeholders in these projects, to recognise the need for several years of development before
judging them a success or failure, and not to rush to judgement.
Examples from other countries can illustrate this. In this same consultancy visit I also visited
Thailand, where bilingual projects were started some six years ago. In the opening section of this
report I outline that during the first three years or so there were a number of problems with
teachers, learning, materials and so on, but that these were overcome in various ways, so that now
the project is popular, showing evidence of success, and has a broadly positive outlook.
Recommendation 1 – TIME-FRAME OF THE PROJECT: The SBI English/bilingual project in Indonesia
is still in the early stages of development. Given that all significant educational initiatives take many
years, or even decades, to achieve their ends, it is recommended that no major changes or shifts
should be initiated at this stage, but that the project should be supported, reviewed and modified
gradually in the medium term.
It is still possible to offer a number of suggestions and recommendations for general improvements
to the SBI initiative.
Perceptions of the programme
It was noted earlier that the Ministry documentation considers English to be a mere part of the
initiative, and not the main focus, since the central aim is rather to raise educational standards to
‘international levels’. However, it was clear from my observations, and my interviews with many
stakeholders, that almost everyone in practice considers English to be the main focus of the whole
programme.
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This may derive from the fact that, as Coleman notes (20