BOGOR, WEST JAVA — “The most important thing today for us is character, independence, and positive contribution. An education that empowers and liberates is beneficial,” said Dr. Ahmad Juwaini, SE, MM, as Chairman of the Board of Dompet Dhuafa Republika Foundation, opening the HARDIKNAS Eduaction Forum at the STIM Budi Bakti Campus in Bogor on Thursday (2/5/2024).
He further said that the forum held by GREAT Edunesia to commemorate National Education Day (HARDIKNAS) was not just a discussion, but also an action. With the theme “Merdeka Belajar and the Path of Transformation of Our Education”, HARDIKNAS is also a reflection on existing policies and the collection of new ideas in the transformation of education to answer the challenges of the Golden Indonesia era.
“This forum aims to present a critical reflection on Merdeka Belajar policy as an effort to transform national education and gather new ideas for educational development. On the way, we try to fill the gaps with educational programs,” Ahmad Juwaini explained.
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In the talk show session, a professor, academic and book author, Dr. Adiam Husaini, said that currently the interest in becoming a teacher is not the top choice. This is because, according to him, there is pride in choosing another profession.
“Being a teacher is noble. What is education, teaching (in Indonesian-Dutch historical terms), and the process of instilling values? Education should foster values, morals, honesty and happiness. Not the materialistic pursuit of individuals and objects,” Dr. Adiam explained.
“The prophet’s task was threefold: tilawah, tazkiyah, and taklim, summarized as ta’dim. So the prophet’s mission is to form morals. A developed country or education is not about money. Our problem is also not rich or poor, but morals. Build the soul, build the body, then build highways, buildings, and so on,” he added.
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In the same session, Dr. Zaim Uchrowi as an educational figure also said, “Education should be humanistic (postmodern / taste and logic) if it is balanced using the right brain (taste / traditional) and left (logic / modern). Free learning education begins with what kind of person you want to be, then deliver with moral character.”
Today’s young generation, which in 2045 will be an important and decisive actor in Indonesia’s progress, needs to get adequate education and self-development so that they are ready to enter the world of work, and can even open new jobs. Unfortunately, in addition to access issues, the quality of learning in schools and universities is not good enough.
As a result, the skills required cannot be fully sufficient and many are not in line with the needs of the future world of work. The minimum skills to become a lifelong learner who is ready to cope with the dynamics of the changing world are far from being realized.
The Head of P2G Teacher Advocacy Division, Iman Zanatul Haeri, also said in the forum that information about Merdeka Belajar is still very minimal.
“This is also a major problem with disinformation. UNESCO released that 44 million teachers are needed worldwide. However, our education is not systematized. Merdeka Belajar is only a promise and an anti-science concept,” he said.
Apart from the learning crisis, there is at least one more criticism of the academic process that is common in many of our schools and universities, namely the increasingly uprooted content of teaching materials from the local wisdom of the surrounding community. It is increasingly difficult to finally find a functional correlation between teaching content and real-life needs. The loss of local wisdom is a threat to the emergence of greater poverty. Thus, efforts to alleviate poverty must be accompanied by the support of quality education that is not enough to rely solely on the realm of schools and lectures.
Education should not always be identified with school or college. It is too narrow if learning opportunities are only pursued through formal education. Education can actually encourage each individual to have the ability to survive, adapt, and rise from difficult situations. As early as possible, our generation must get teaching and experience so that they become resilient in the future. Thus, it is necessary to immediately raise awareness to build a solid integration between formal education, family, and society as an educational ecosystem that strengthens self-piety, national identity, resilience, and social sensitivity.
GREAT Edunesia is an educational philanthropy organization as a program management partner of Dompet Dhuafa in the field of education that serves the public in the field of education for empowerment. There are 12 programs managed including the Budi Bakti College of Management (STIM), Umar Usman Business Campus, Institute of Independence, IDEAS, Magnificient Zakat Institute, Beastudi Indonesia, Al Syukro Universal Islamic College, SMART Cibinong School, Insani Development School and SfR (School for Refugees), Literate Teacher School, and Plan & Meal.
The issue of access to formal education has only been resolved at the primary education level. The opportunity to achieve secondary and higher education still leaves many complex challenges. Expectations for equitable distribution of education quality are also still concentrated only in Java and in a few big cities. In addition to access, the issue of quality and equity should be a major issue in the transformation of education in Indonesia. This transformation must have a strong orientation towards improving the quality of human resources. If not, then the gap will always be wide open.
Technological and industrial landscape developments, pandemic-induced crises, climate change, and geopolitical shifts have caused major disruptions, including to the world of education. To face the challenges of change, a rapid and systematic adaptation process is needed. After the pandemic, the poverty rate is still rising, and economic inequality is also widening. Poverty and economic inequality are the direct result of gaps in access to knowledge.
In addition, it was also explained by the Head of the STIM Budi Bakti Dompet Dhuafa Campus, Rina Fatimah that, “The problem of access to education APK-PT (Gross Participation Rate-Higher Education) has not developed in the last five years. The cost of higher education, the quality of unemployed higher education graduates (the root of the skill mismatch problem), the future solution of PT needs policy support, financing, as well as partnership platforms and curriculum revision “.
Said by Mulyadi Saputra as Executive Director of GREAT Edunesia, the futuristic essence of education is the dimension of sustainability and educational innovation. There are three functions to ensure the sustainability of innovation schemes, namely:
- Discovery function (innovation production) by educational institutions,
- Production and commercialization functions that model production and marketing,
- Regulatory functions that regulate optimization, utilization, and legal umbrella.
“Educational innovation is also closely related to brainstorming, prototyping, industrialization, commercialization, evaluation, and improvement,” Mulyadi said.
The experience of Dompet Dhuafa’s education program has had a long-term impact on changes in their economic status and contribution. This shows that education is one of the gates of change towards a better life.
The idea of GREAT Edunesia’s sustainable education in the future is The Philanthropy Edupowerment: Sustainability and impact governance; multi-stakeholder collaboration; curriculum development of character, knowledge, and skills; prioritization of local wisdom and regional equity; and responsiveness to educational issues.
“We title this Merdeka Belajar as education that never finds its way. So today, is our action through the Dompet Dhuafa education program. We maximize National Education Day to shop for ideas together. Approaching the age of 32 Dompet Dhuafa, GREAT Edunesia wants to plan a program and curriculum unique to Dompet Dhuafa, “concluded Mulyadi. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photo: Dhika Prabowo
Editors: Dedi Fadlil, Ronna