I am actually really torn about what I found in elementary public schools across Indonesia. Torn between sadness and laughter.
I genuinely think that schools around the country have shown amazing effort in familiarising the students with English. There is a tingle of pride in my heart when I encountered that English is used in a lot of signage within the schools. However, sadness crawls back into my heart when I read the (supposedly) bi-lingual posters displaying words of wisdoms. It really makes me wonder whether Indonesian public schools have competent English teachers – or do people just refuse to care?
I don’t know. Indonesia’s education system is an exhausting subject to discuss – touching the sub-subject of Indonesian teachers’ competency is also another level of tiring discussion. Conversation about how Indonesian do or do not care about what they are displaying in schools around the country is additionally another rigorous topic to tackle. I’d rather just enjoy the wrongly translated posters and signage below. They are, indeed, quite amusing.
Three of these photos are mine (one of them was taken at my old elementary school in Pomalaa, South-East Sulawesi) and one photo was sent to me by a dear friend.
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