As the country recovers from the pandemic, schools are now implementing 100 percent in-person learning. Nadiem said that the spirit of gotong royong (working together) and collaboration among multiple education actors was the ultimate principle in fully implementing in-person learning. He added that teamwork was one of the most important values in raising the profile of Pancasila students.

“The Pancasila student profile is the big goal of Merdeka Learning, an independent curriculum, motivating teachers, motivating schools, the end of which is to create a profile of Pancasila students," said Nadiem, referred to as "Mas Minister" by the students.

He said the six profiles of Pancasila students were; faith in and piety toward God, global diversity, mutual cooperation, creativity, critical reasoning ability, and independence.

“These are the six profiles of Pancasila students who will be younger siblings in the future, when they are looking for work, or become entrepreneurs, or whatever, these will be the skills, the most important competencies. The most important profiles," said Nadiem.

The minister also shared some of his experiences, such as attending theater as an extracurricular activity when he was in school, and credited that with fostering his leadership skills, as well as the spirit of collaboration and confidence. He urged the students to view extracurricular activities as a means of honing one's passions.

“Mas Desta also knows that in the world of the show, if one party does not match, everything will be chaotic. This is where the need for mutual cooperation comes in," he said, referring to Deddy Mahendra Desta, who was also present at the event. Nadiem further explained, "The benefits are amazing. Extracurricular activities are not just fun activities, they inspire our leadership spirit, our courage, the ability to work together, learn teamwork. That's called lifelong learning."

Furthermore, Desta also gave group assignments to students to submit ideas for the Merdeka Curriculum project based on four themes; diversity, entrepreneurship, climate change and social projection. Responding to the challenge, Nisrina Alfa from the climate change group proposed that every student go home by public transportation every Thursday.

“We all feel that the average temperature in Jakarta is increasing over time. It was even estimated that in Jakarta the temperature will increase by 1.5 degrees Celsius before 2030. Therefore, my group will propose a project,” explained Nisrina, who proposed that her group encourage students to go home together via school bus or Transjakarta to promote sustainable living and reduce pollution.

Moreover, Diandra from the diversity group chose to approach the project from a more artistic point of view. Diandra and her group will record all students of SMP 5 based on their heritage. Diandra and her group will organize art performances by asking representatives from each island to perform art based on their respective cultures; from Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, and other places.

“The purpose of performing arts is to maintain Indonesian culture, unite, strengthen and also preserve it so that it remains intact for a long time. Then the meaning will also be different but still the same, namely the meaning of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. Our performance will be lively, because we’ll do it together on a stage that is diverse,” explained Diandra.

After the presentations, Nadiem advised students and teachers to take advantage of the programs of the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry known by the slogan of Merdeka Learning. He added that students should never stop dreaming, but instead follow their dreams with concrete actions to move forward.

"This is the time for everyone to take various opportunities to enrich themselves from all types of competency fields for the Pancasila student profile. Please don't waste this opportunity, both inside and outside of school. Always invite your teachers to implement Merdeka Learning," said Nadiem.

Diana, meanwhile, is one of the honorary teachers who graduated as an ASN PPPK in the first wave. ASN PPPK is an education ministry program to prioritize the selection of State Civil Apparatus Government Employees with Work Agreements in order to solve welfare challenges faced by teachers. Diana, who teaches science, expressed her appreciation for the program, which has provided the opportunity for many other honorary teachers to become ASN through the PPPK.

"Thank you, sir, for caring so much for us teachers, especially for honorary teachers who are over 35 years old. Through this PPPK, personally, my life in the future will be better and more prosperous. With this program, I hope I can become a better teacher in the future,” she concluded.

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