Indonesia's educational challenges and opportunities for the 21st century

Abstract

This paper discusses Indonesias efforts to improve health status and to introduce appropriate technology that would strengthen reproductive health education and delivery of reproductive health services. The paper was presented at a pre-congress seminar entitled Learning Without Walls that was held on October 13-14 1995 in Bali Indonesia in conjunction with the XVth Asian and Oceanic Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology. A small group of decision makers was given the opportunity to update its knowledge of the revolution and to explore the possible impact on health care education and training. Indonesias goal is to increase the availability of reproductive health care services by introducing appropriate technological innovations. Indonesia incorporated competency-based training (CBT) in reproductive health and found that it required both service delivery and training systems to manage and access information differently. A major challenge in the future is to find alternative ways to design develop and implement the four components of CBT. User access to information can improve by eliminating some common constraints such as slow and difficult access to expert information lack of an adequate supply of trainers and time factors. Other innovations include increasing the availability of information usable by decision makers improving access to up-to-date technical information for training programs improving efficiency and effectiveness of transfers of standard and CBT knowledge and improving clinical training in emergency procedures and acute care problems at remote sites. The government action plan includes the adaptation of the ReproSystem establishment of computer-based learning centers and information services at 800 sites and establishment of MomCare services at 800 sites over a 5-year period.