The inability of Indonesia’s school system to produce qualified teachers hinders students’ development of leadership skills, a seminar at the National Education Ministry heard in Jakarta on Friday.
“Most school teachers don’t perform their main duty as leaders,” Sampoerna School of Education director Kenneth Cock said at the seminar.
Good teachers must not only teach leadership theory but also set good examples as leaders themselves, he said.
Teachers needed to embed leadership values, a strong commitment to social justice, problem-solving skills and moral integrity in students, Cock said.
He added that the ultimate nature of schooling was to address the problems of poverty, so the products of schools — future leaders — should work to address these problems.
“But it is almost impossible for this country to produce competent future leaders with the current quality of teachers,” Cock said.
Brig. Gen. (ret.) Soemarno Soemarsono, who has written several books on character building and leadership, told the seminar the lack of good examples of leadership set by Indonesia’s current leaders had also contributed to its current leadership crisis.
“Corrupt leaders have led society to distrust their own leaders,” the 80-year-old said.
The function of a leader is to influence others to move together in achieving desired objectives, Soemarno said, adding that without trust a leader could not motivate others.
Indonesia needs leadership that reflects a competence in problem solving, and at the same time strong characteristics such as commitment in adapting to changes, idealism and dedication, he said.
Another speaker, Dian Hidayati from Darul Hikam School in Bandung, West Java, emphasized the importance of synergy between school, home and society in creating competent future leaders.
“The role of parents and members of society in educating students is important considering that children are not under school surveillance 24 hours a day,” she said, adding that communication between teachers and parents was also vital in students’ learning processes.
Agi Rachmat from the Dunamis Foundation said facing the leadership crisis, Indonesia needed only to dig into its own history to find the ideal characteristics of a good leader.
Ki Hadjar Dewantara, the father of the Indonesian education system, had taught leadership skills even before Indonesia achieved independence, Adi said.
In his lessons, Ki Hadjar had referred to the Javanese proverb, “Ing ngarso sung tolodo, ing madyo mangun karso, tut wuri handayani” (leaders should become models for their followers, make positive contributions to society and motivate others to succeed). (rdf)
