I

ndonesia is the biggest archipelagic country in the world. If we randomly pick people who have received some formal education, they will be able to say that Indonesia consists of thousands of islands. Others will also know that two-thirds of Indonesian territory is ocean.

Put simply, Indonesia has more water than land and we view oceans as an important part of our territory and jurisdiction.

While we generally understand the significant proportion of ocean in terms of size, there is always the question of how well we understand our seas.

We also know that our ancestors were sailors. Those who went through childhood in the late 1980s and 1990s would know the song going “Nenek Moyangku Orang Pelaut” (Our ancestors were sailors).

However, one might agree that the oceanic spirit is no longer as high in today’s generation. We sometimes joke that it is our ancestors who were sailors, not us.

When I was writing this piece, I was involved in organizing a short course at the Australian National Center for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong. The program was attended by a group of Indonesians, ranging from university professors to fishermen. Indeed, a very diverse group.

The course was regarding fishery management, an important topic for an archipelagic country like Indonesia. We had very good discussions during the program.

A lot of things addressed, especially by the fishermen, were new to me. One important lesson taken is that education in ocean affairs does matter.

It is obviously not a new conclusion but it is good to revisit issues of education in the spirit of Education Day, which falls in May.

Regarding education, I had an engaging conversation with one of the lecturers of a fisheries academy in Bitung, North Sulawesi, who was also one of the participants.

One important point I learned from the conversation was that studying in a fisheries academy is not the best thing young people would want to do.

The implication would be that the quality of students recruited might not represent the top group of their generation.

Another issue noticed is that educational institutions focusing on thematic disciplines, like fisheries and other ocean related affairs, are usually semi-military in nature.

 While they are aimed to building good habits and a highly disciplined attitude, it is not surprising that youngsters nowadays would find them less attractive.

The Facebook and Twitter generation might not find it appealing to learn something in a semi-military environment.

I am by no means an expert in education and human behavior, but being a lecturer myself I can say, without hesitation, that young people nowadays need a different approach.

Youngsters need something attractive, dynamic and interactive. They no longer use letters to communicate and they do not read newspapers to obtain news.

Instead, they use push email or instant messenger to be in touch with colleagues and receive notification through Twitter about what is happening around the world.

They do not need to wait until tomorrow to know what happened at a place thousands of kilometers away since they receive a message two seconds later on their mobile phones.

Put simply, they live in a completely different world from what we knew 10 or 15 years ago.

What do all those things have to do with ocean-affairs education for youngsters? We need to repackage education in ocean affairs in such a way that youngsters will be attracted to it.

The use of social media is one example. Without compromising essence and quality, education in ocean affairs must also have style.

The bottom line is that youngsters need to feel proud that studying fisheries, for example, is as cool as studying other more popular fields. However, this certainly has something to do with the confidence that what they learn will enable them securing their future financially.

What to do about those issues? First, the implementation of sophisticated information communication and technology (ICT) in educational institutions is a must. This must be followed by the preparedness of people working with the technology, since its implementation requires people with adequate knowledge and good attitude. Otherwise, technology can be disastrous instead of helpful.

Second, consistent campaigns are needed to promote the discipline to youngsters through the use of media favorable to youngsters (social media). Ocean-related activities also need to be promoted as a lifestyle, just like cycling.

Third, academics in ocean affairs should implement their knowledge for the good of people, not just for the sake of the development of science. More importantly, researchers should share their knowledge to laymen through popular publications, in addition to technical and scientific papers.

In addition to specifically designed ocean-related education, content of ocean affairs should also be integrated into other disciplines. The economic value of oceans, for example, can be integrated into relevant subjects taught in the faculties of economics and business.

Another good example is that students learning geodetic engineering are taught marine geodesy including geodetic aspects of the law of the sea. Pharmaceutical students should also focus on bio-prospecting, exploring oceans and deep seabeds for medicine.

There is always space for ocean affairs in any major of education.

To sum up, in order for ocean affairs to be attractive to youngsters, it has to satisfy at least two important criteria.

First, it needs to be delivered in a favorable way to youngsters who are well-exposed to ICT and social media.

Second, there has to be some sort of warranty that studying ocean affairs will enable them to secure their futures financially. Ocean-affairs education for youngsters is obligatory for an archipelagic country like Indonesia so that the “sailor” tag is not only applicable to our ancestors.

The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Geodetic Engineering at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He is pursing a doctorate at the University of Wollongong, with an Australian Leadership Awards scholarship.