The series of events of the 47th Anniversary of faculty of Geography UGM have run well. The peak was a national seminar entitled Direction of Education and Research of Geography in Indonesia which was followed enthusiastically by 230 participants of S1/S2/S3 students, teachers, and lecturers from various provinces. The seminar was followed by a meeting with Heads of Study Program, Heads of Department, Geography Teachers Association, which was led by Prof. Dr. Hartono, DEA., DESS, caretaker of IGI, to formulate strategic ideas related to the revitalization of curriculum of Geography education at primary and secondary schools.
The seminar was opened by Vice Dean III, Dr. Lutfi Mutaali, MSP, followed by a keynote speech delivered by Prof. Dr. Suratman, M.Sc., General Chairman of Indonesian Geographers Association as well as Dean of Faculty of Geography UGM. Suratman said that condition in Indonesia, which is the largest archipelago country in the world and is multi-ethnic, multi-resourced, and many hazards as well as a maritime nation, makes geography as a basic scientific knowledge that must be learned early. Geography is absolutely needed for nationality, nationalism and national security insights or in national building. Besides, humans have learned geography since they were born such as learning how to locate an object, learning directions and important places, thus geography is a fundamental science in human life.
In addition, Dr. Sri Hayati, M.Pd from Indonesia University of Education and Dr. Erry Utomo from the Ministry of National Education underlined that to prepare excellent geographers needs integration of geography education in elementary, secondary education and higher education. The problem that occurs is geography curriculum in basic education is in the category of social sciences, while at high school level it is in Science Program. In particular, Geography is not given for grade XI and XII though the requirement for Faculty of Geography is Science Program diploma. Resource persons in the seminar were varied, such as from non- education university (Faculty of Geography UGM), University of Education (UNY, UPI Bandung), high school teachers, college students, high school students, winners of Geography and Earth Sciences Olympiad from SMA N 1 Banjarnegara and SMA N 8 Yogyakarta. The high school students said that upgrading and training of geography teachers to improve their competence in teaching their students, especially for Geography and Earth Sciences Olympiad, are needed.
In the seminar, Dr. Mukminan of Yogyakarta State University called for the active participation of all stakeholders such as Higher Education, high schools, junior high schools, elementary schools, as well as professional associations (IGI, IGEGAMA, IMAHAGI, HMG / HMJ / HMPS, the Association of Teachers of Geography Indonesia, MGMP) to be actively involved in reviewing the curriculum and alumni competency standards to be implemented in 2011 by BSNP (National Education Standard Agency).