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.
Guiding students toward independence
Spiritual awakening, which in turn awakens the body, begins with a person's willingness to develop and care for literacy, sensitivity and literacy skills; read, write, speak, calculate and solve problems.
Change Size
I
t is not a coincidence that composer Wage Rudolf Supratman put the phrase "Wake up his soul" before "Wake up his body" in the lyrics of the national anthem “Indonesia Raya”. Even though he did not have the opportunity to hear the national anthem played on Independence Day on Aug. 17, 1945, as a literate human figure, Wage truly realized and believed that the spirit, passion and motivation that comes from within will be able to move and become the driving force and leverage for this body to rise and move forward — dare to face various challenges in life.
Confirmed through scientific research, the effects of the hormone adrenaline enable a person to dare to take on various challenges, including carrying the burden (wounds) of the challenges faced. Conversely, those who lose passion and enthusiasm in themselves will trigger the hormone cortisol, which plunges a person into the trap of mental stress and grief for a long time.
It is proven that the mental state of a person who is transformed into enthusiasm, hope, motivation and joy will accelerate the process of recovery and self-healing. In terms of spirituality, the description of the mind is narrated in the wise sentence: "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones." (Proverbs 17:22).
Spiritual awakening, which in turn awakens the body, begins with a person's willingness to develop and care for literacy, sensitivity and literacy skills; read, write, speak, calculate and solve problems. Thus, literacy is a parameter to measure the resilience and growth of a nation's human resources.
For almost two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed many lives and affected many aspects of human life. In the education field, the pandemic has forced students and teachers to move classes to the home. Learning activities have yet to return to normal.
As a nation with an abundant demographic bonus, with a large number of young people at a productive age and with technology literacy (internet), it will be very effective if they are equipped with literacy skills and abilities. However, the quality and literacy skills of the nation's children remain far from encouraging.
Suherman (2009) said this literacy crisis is so obvious, this nation is experiencing haziness and myopia, ironically due to the low illiteracy rate. Around 4 percent of the Indonesian population is still illiterate. If the Indonesian population totals 271 million, then about 10.8 million people are illiterate, which is still a big number.
Referring to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization data on the literacy abilities and skills of people in 61 countries, Indonesia ranks 60th or one level below Thailand (59) and one level above Botswana (61).
The blurry portrait of national literacy as a parameter of human resources in the global arena has become important and urgent to be parsed and resolved. One of the solutions is to map the academic potential and literacy of students through literacy diagnostic tests for elementary and secondary education students.
Such tests should be followed up through various mentoring programs for the optimal growth and development of all students.
The diagnostic test model for students refers to the International Competitions and Assessment for Schools (ICAS), an evaluation model that not only measures aspects of knowledge and memory but fosters literacy and numeracy skills from within students; through various analytical questions that stimulate students to think critically through reading and understanding activities presented in the form of pictures, tables, diagrams and curves.
In short, it is a fun and intelligently designed diagnostic model. It's fun because students have the opportunity to identify their potential personally. Educate because it develops the spirit of students to hone their competence and literacy skills.
Keep in mind that when someone is taught the joy of learning, then this will be a lifelong process that never stops. The experience of everyday life has proven that people who are successful in life are those who are willing and able to learn independently and practice what they have learned continuously and consistently to form and become real attitudes and characters in everyday life.
It is a goal that must be answered and accomplished altogether by every element of the nation in order to create a literate independent generation.
More than a year of the pandemic has shown that the health crisis and ensuing mobility restrictions have not let the Indonesian students down. Their spirit to learn and perform academically has not faded, despite all the limitations.
It is necessary for us, however, to think seriously about and strive for as many breakthroughs as possible in order to “awaken the souls” of the nation's golden generation through the spirit of literacy independence.
For this reason, schools as learning communities need to create creative learning spaces and present innovative teaching models. It's time to ignite the glow of literacy independence.
***
The writer is a coordinator of the Teaching-Learning Curriculum department, Citra Berkat Foundation, Jakarta.
