E-Sabak Is a New Program from Ministry of Education

              Recently, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Ministry of Technology has made a new program. They substitute textbooks for electronic books which are called electronic sabak or E-Sabak. The Indonesian government plans to use E-Sabak in outlying regions such as in Papua, Nusa Tenggara Timur, and Kalimatan. Both ministries also cooperate with Telkom Indonesia, the biggest telecommunication company in Indonesia as the provider for the network in the outlying regions. E-Sabak still becomes pros and cons among citizens. People think using of E-Sabak in schools is not effective to support teaching process. Besides, citizens considering the program is only trick of business, the advantages of the program only for some sides not for the society. However, E-Sabak program has advantages and disadvantages for the government and the citizens.

There are two advantages of E-Sabak. Firstly, E–Sabak is a medium to introduce technology to students. There is no doubt that there is imbalance betw­­een people who li­­­­­ve in the capital and people who live far from the capital, including in sides of education and technology. People in the capital have more knowledge about technology because the media are available. In other word, they more educate than people who live far from the capital. In this cases, outlying regions people are left behind from the capital people. The government actually tries to balance the differences through the program.  A book is one of the important aspects of learning process, using E-Sabak is essential to teach technology to students. Because of the E-Sabak will use in every session of learning process. They will learn how to operate tablets PC. In addition, applications in the tablets PC will make students more capable to accustom with technology. The students will learn many kind of application program in the gadgets. Gradually, the students will usual with technology because of using E-Sabak.   

Secondly, E-Sabak is more efficient than textbooks in terms of money and energy. Using of E-Sabak to substitute textbooks are more efficient because the government should not distribute many course books to the schools. The materials will be transfer through the Internet from the government to the schools. It is more practical for the government, teachers, and students. Later on, by using E-Sabak the government hopes no more late distribution for the textbooks. The government should not consider the distribution fee. Teachers and students also should not pay the books fee. In this case, the government save more money and energy. In addition, the books are in the form of tablet PC that the contents are only the electronic books. The students cannot access anything else except the E-Sabak. Moreover, E-Sabak is more interactive than textbooks because teachers can do many quizzes from E-Sabak. The various forms of the quizzes will be included in the gadgets, for example, the quizzes in the form of games. So, the students can do many enjoyable quizzes in different forms in the tablets PC.

On the other hand, there are also two disadvantages applying E-Sabak. First, most of infrastructures in Indonesia are not ready for E-Sabak. Utilizing E-Sabak for education especially, in distant areas will take more times. There is no electricity in most of the areas. The tablets PC need electricity to make it work. So, the government should prepare the electricity first, before starting the program. Moreover, the materials courses will be sent through the Internet from the government to the schools where most of the regions also lack of the Internet signal. The signal must be available in the outlying areas because without it the program might be not successful.

Second, changing textbooks into E-Sabak is not effective for teaching process. Teachers and students in outlying regions are not accustomed to using E-Sabak. They should adjust with the technology that they never use before. It is not easy to accustom to a new thing. Furthermore, E-Sabak applies in gadgets. There is always an opportunity that the equipment will be error. Consequently, the learning process will disrupt because of the error. For example, the tablets will not work because there is an error in the machines because of viruses or computer problems. In addition, the lifespan of gadgets are not longer than textbooks. For instance, a tablet PC will survive at least for five years. After that, the gadget will not work as usual. Gadgets are sensitive and easy to damage because those are machines. Nonetheless, textbooks are not machines. The lifetime is longer than gadgets. So, using of textbooks in learning process are more effective than E-Sabak.

In summary, there are always advantages and disadvantages from a policy. The policy from the Ministry of Education is good for the citizens. Certainly, the government tries to make a well-balanced education between education in the capital and education in the outlying regions. The advantages from the program that E-Sabak is a medium to bring in technology to students and the application of E-Sabak is more ergonomic than the textbooks. Nevertheless, there are two disadvantages of E-Sabak, facility in Indonesia is not accessible and using of        E-Sabak is not effectual. Therefore, citizens should be facing the policy wisely, do not judge the government. Even so, the government must reconsider the advantages and the disadvantages whether the program is good or not for the society.  

Raadhiyah Mardiyyah

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