Speaking at a press conference held in front of the Kemendikdasmen office, Central Jakarta on Sunday (2/2/25,) Indonesia’s Minister of Primary and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen,) Abdul Mu’ti, announced that coding and artificial intelligence (AI) subjects will be part of the school curriculum starting next semester. The two subjects, he said, are not compulsory but will be elective subjects, according to reporting from Tempo.
Mu’ti considered learning related to the two materials important and should even be given from the elementary school level. However, he continued that in its implementation later, it still needs to be accompanied by directions regarding its use, considering the current digital era.
“Of course, mastery of technology is important, in fact it is a must, but its use must of course be utilized for positive activities, which are beneficial for the entire community,” said Mu’ti.
Tempo is reporting that the proposed plan is being fully supported by the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemkomdigi) in its digital literacy efforts. The two ministries agreed to work together to create a generation that is able to utilize technological developments for positive things.
“So hopefully later we can continue to work together to build a generation that not only masters technology but also uses technology for positive things, things that are useful in order to educate the nation’s life,” he said.
The plan to include coding and AI subjects in the school curriculum is a proposal initiated by Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, says Tempo.
“Don’t let us lose to India. Because once again, ladies and gentlemen, to achieve a golden Indonesia, we need a golden generation. We want more coding experts, AI experts, machine learning experts, and others,” Gibran said while giving a speech at a coordination meeting for the evaluation of primary and secondary education in the Gandaria area, South Jakarta, on Monday, November 11, 2024.
Mu’ti, while giving a press statement on the sidelines of the coordination meeting, said that the coding and AI elective subjects would be implemented in schools that already have adequate facilities.
“Because it requires sophisticated tools, good internet facilities and not all of our schools have those facilities. Hopefully it can answer the president’s program for digitalization,” said Mu’ti.
Source: Tempo, (Daniel Ahmad Fajri contributed to the writing of this article.)
Stock Photo by Agung Pandit Wiguna on Pexels
