TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Young people take initiative to better education opportunities
Dedication: Rosa Dahlia teaches students outdoors in Lenny Jaya regency, West Papua
Change Size
Dedication: Rosa Dahlia teaches students outdoors in Lenny Jaya regency, West Papua.
Two young people combine their entrepreneurial skills and passion to solve problems in education.
Despite a major allocation in the state budget, many parents still complain about the high cost of education.
At first, education activist Ai Nurhidayat thought it was normal for private schools to impose high tuition fees, since they offer qualified teachers and better facilities. It was common to see some schools apply a cross subsidy system to help high-achieving students from poor families.
However, after some contemplation, he considered that such a system was unfair.
“It favors those who are better off and more gifted than students with average abilities,” the native of Pangandaran in West Java said.
He was speaking during the Young People’s Festival, which was held by Tempo Institute in South Jakarta recently. During the event, young people met to exchange perspectives during discussions and to expand their networks.
Ai returned to Pangandaran after finishing his study in Jakarta and completing his apprenticeship in multiple areas, including in Timor Leste where he was exposed to other cultures.
Believing that schools should apply equality in their student enrollment, Ai set up SMK Bakti Karya vocational school in Parigi district, Pangandaran.
The multicultural school has enrolled students from 25 regencies all over Indonesia.
“In the beginning, I recruited volunteers from various regions to promote the school and to recruit students,” said the 26-year-old.
Ai’s does not set grade minimums for student admission. His school accepts all students as long as they have graduated from junior high school and are younger than 21. Unsurprisingly, it has drawn public interest.
“Those rejected by other schools enroll in our school,” Ai said.
He employs teachers who come from around Pangandaran as well as other cities and asks them to embrace the school’s mission. Ai wants his students to learn academic skills and participate in extracurricular activities, so they will be capable of working independently after graduation. The school also provides a dormitory facility.
Meanwhile, Rosa Dahlia, another participant of the Young People Festival, focused on education for children in West Papua. In contrast to the numerous schools that are available in Jakarta and big cities in Java, students in West Papua have limited access to education.
“The government has intentions to improve education in Papua, but they use Java as a reference, while local conditions [in Papua] are different,” said Rosa.
Unlike Ai, who returned to his hometown, Rosa accepted a job from a foundation to teach at Lanny Jaya Papua after graduation. She has observed that Papuan students need a teaching approach that is different from the one applied in big cities on Java.
“If the teaching method is adjusted, the children are quick to learn,” said Rosa.
For instance, teachers from big cities are used to teaching primary school students who already have basic arithmetic training, so they may get impatient when they find that the students in Papua do not possess the same skills in the subject.
Rosa also highlighted the language gap. Papuan children rarely speak Indonesian or speak it in a muddled structure. She said she decided to learn the local tongue to ease communication with her students.
“I was once at a loss for the proper way to teach them Indonesian until an idea struck me,” recalled Rosa.
In order to make Indonesian language teaching easier, she created a bulletin entitled Elege Inone, which means “the voice of children” in the local Lanny language. Issued monthly, the publication was processed by students, who wrote stories, took photos, drew illustrations and printed the newsletter, with Rosa helping to create its graphic designs.
“We managed to produce three editions and planned to distribute them to schools in Lanny Jaya, but I had to move and my successor hasn’t continued this project,” she said.
(Courtesy of SMK Bakti Karya)
Critical thinking: Two comic strips by students from vocational school SMK Bakti Karya share messages of multiculturalism.
When her contract expired, Rosa could not secure an extension from her foundation. Rosa’s love of Papua prompted her to stay in the province with the help of many circles, thus enabling her to carry on teaching in Lanny Jaya.
Ai, who raises funds from donations, has also faced some problems despite receiving overwhelming interest in his school. The latest repressive measures taken in the arrest of Papuan students in Yogyakarta on allegations of promoting separatism in July have prompted a number of candidates from Papua to cancel their enrollment.
Rosa and Ai share the view that with serious effort, funds will come from various sources. They believe the most important thing is to maintain strong determination without losing hope in order to promote Indonesia’s education.
