Developing Curriculum for Indonesia's Schools

At the foot of the Semeru Mountains in southwestern Indonesia, Malang is home to historic sites and a trading hub. It’s hardly a place one would expect to find Hawkeye fans, but according to Ali Saukah (MA ’86, PhD ’90), UI grads make a big difference there.

Saukah said at least five faculty members at State University of Malang, including his wife, Siti Malikah Towaf (MA ’87, PhD ’90), earned degrees from The University of Iowa.

Saukah’s journey to become a Hawkeye wasn’t easy. Born in a small village in Central Java, Indonesia, Saukah’s mother passed away before his second birthday. His father died when he was 13, leaving him to work in the Batik industry as he attended secondary school.

In 1985, after a stint as an interpreter and instructor at the State University of Malang, Saukah and Towaf received scholarships from the Indonesian government to study at The University of Iowa College of Education. He said he knew little about the University before he left his country, but sponsors selected it as the place he should study based on his field of interest.

After finishing his studies at Iowa, Saukah returned to Malang, a city he describes as “beautiful and cool” and surrounded by four volcanoes. He took a job as a faculty member in the State University of Malang’s graduate program. In 2002 he became dean of the Graduate College.

In addition to his duties as dean, Saukah still teaches courses in research methodology, language testing, and statistics to undergraduate and graduate students.

He said he’s been able to put his UI education to use developing a national English language curriculum for Indonesia’s public schools.

“The UI graduates in our university are involved not only at the level of our own departments, but also at the university and national levels,” he said.

Towaf teaches graduate and undergraduate students at the university and also does research in Women’s Studies. She said she still uses books in her research that she was introduced to at the UI.