(JP/Ika Krismantari)Education problems in Indonesia are so complex that no one, not even the government, can fix them. Yet a place located 5 kilometers to the north of Yogyakarta founded by Erika Oktarini may offer some solutions.

The complex is surrounded by paddy fields. It consists of five buildings, four of which are made from bamboo. In the front corner is a three-floor bamboo castle that holds classrooms. Behind it, there are three other bamboo buildings, with one of them functioning as a prayer room. Erika designed them by herself with the help of a craftsman. The 31-year-old built them through a process of trial and error, as the physics graduate has no knowledge of architecture. The strong-willed lady believes that bamboo is the answer for the infrastructure problems in the education sector.

“There is no reason to not build schools due to limited budgets because people only need to plant bamboo and it can be used in three years,” the woman told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

Not only from the outside, but inside her “castle” Erika has introduced new teaching methods that help students understand difficult subjects like math and physics.

The long-haired woman may be everyone’s favorite teacher, as she uses film and songs to explain terrifying theories in trigonometry and algebra.

However, Erika said she never planned to become a teacher. She said she always wanted to be an artist, specifically a comic writer. She established Swacomsta, a community for local comics writers in Yogyakarta back in 1999 to channel her hobby into drawings. Her life changed when she accidentally became a teacher during her first meditation course in Klaten, Central Java.

During her stay in a meditation complex, Erika decided to volunteer and she was asked to teach due to her education background.

“When I met the children, I realized that there is so much homework to be done in the education sector,” she said.

Upon returning from the meditation class, Erika changed the course of her life. She started teaching children and finally set up her own place in 2007. Her place is called Ladang Belajar Matrik (Matrik Field Study) with the last word forming an acronym of “Studying Mathematics with Erika”.

Erika shared that she built Matrik with only Rp 100,000 (US$10.40), which she spent to make a proposal. She gave the proposal to an investor, who agreed to give her starting capital of Rp 15 million to rent land and build classrooms

Starting with one class and one teacher, the study group has turned into a “school kingdom”, with one castle and more than 300 students and 13 teachers. Classes are offered up from 2 p.m. until 8.30 p.m. Different from other tutoring firms, Erika tries to create a homey atmosphere for her pupils, as they are allowed to sleep and bathe in the area. A restaurant and internet connections are also available in the complex.

“It is more like spending the afternoon effectively with their big brothers in class,” said Erika.

One thing that she does in classroom is to use mind map drawings to explain subjects to children. She draws and summarizes formulas and theories from one topic in colorful and comical paintings. These drawings have been proven to be effective in explaining different subjects and topics to students. However, she does not only make mind maps for difficult subjects like mathematics or physics but also for other topics. Looking at her collections of drawings, Erika makes mind maps for almost everything, including batik, which people can use to understand the fabric’s different styles in Indonesia.

With this teaching style, it can be said that Erika has not forgotten her aspiration to become an artist. She even labels herself as an “education artist” with her own genre in mind mapping. With her drawings, Erika wants to make the learning processes for students more interesting by adding an esthetic experience.

Furthermore, she even changed Swacomsta and turned it into Eduartion in 2008 to focus on the production of fun and free learning tools. The organization has produced a number of films that focus on challenging subjects like algebra and logarithm. Those difficult subjects are explored through funny characters, interesting plots and catchy soundtracks to assist the students to grasp basic theories. In producing the films, Erika does not only write the scripts, she also stars in all the movies. The finalist of British Council’s International Young Creative Entrepreneur 2012 competition seems to be an all-out artist, who dedicates all her artwork to education.

Due to her commitment, Erika has been trusted by the World Bank to facilitate workshops in Papua. She engages in programs that try to improve the quality of education in poor regions. In fact, after her recent trip to the province, she says that her mind map drawings received a good response from local residents, as they were cheap to produce and very effective for teaching

“It [mind map drawing] can save on spending for book production and distribution as they only need one big paper to summarize materials in one book,” she explains.

In the future, she said she planned to establish a high school for agribusiness, which she believes is the country’s strongest asset that is still neglected.

“I want to make a new impression among the children that farming is a cool thing,” she said of her ambition.

With her involvement in Matrik as well the World Bank’s projects, Erika doesn’t seem to have much time for herself, as she still needs to work during the weekend. But the girl, who makes meditation her hobby, says she still enjoys every minute of it, as she does everything passionately. It is clear that for the improvement of education sector in this country, Erika does not only work with art but also her heart.

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