Sick society needs better orientation toward human values: Experts<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Education in Indonesia should be more humanistic in order to
\nheal our sick society, experts say.<\/p>\n
This lack of orientation has contributed a great deal to a
\ndecrease in the level of human values among Indonesians, they
\npoint out.<\/p>\n
\"We need a big push, beyond just teaching the younger
\ngeneration about basic social etiquette,\" social psychologist
\nDarmanto Jatman of Semarang-based Diponegoro University told The
\nJakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
Teaching etiquette, according to Jatman, was indeed important,
\nespecially given that many young Indonesians did not express
\ncondolences over the Oct. 12 Bali bombings that claimed over 190
\nlives, thus demonstrating their failure to show a sense of
\nhumanity.<\/p>\n
\"But that's not the whole problem. There's something wrong
\nwith our education system. It lacks that fundamental direction
\nthat is oriented toward the acquisition of basic social skills,\"
\nDarmanto said.<\/p>\n
In fact, he said, it was these skills that could help students
\nsharpen their cultural and social sensibility.<\/p>\n
\"Unfortunately, our education system is not oriented in this
\nway and students are not taught to be sensitive toward other
\npeople's feelings,\" said Darmanto, adding that a similar
\nphenomenon was also apparent at the family level.<\/p>\n
Citing a report on the high level of domestic violence in the
\ncountry, Darmanto said that even from their early years, children
\nwitness their parents' frequent quarrels, desensitizing the
\nchildren as a result.<\/p>\n
\"Children then create a self-defense mechanism by pretending
\nnot to see anything when they are exposed to violence. They
\nbecome insensitive,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Analysts earlier said that years of exposure to injustice,
\nviolence and bloody killings throughout the country, with, at the
\nsame time, no legal steps being taken against the perpetrators,
\nhad contributed a great deal to an erosion in the sense of social
\nconcern shown by Indonesians.<\/p>\n
The remark initially came in response to the \"public show\" put
\non by National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and Bali bomb
\nsuspect Amrozi who laughed, shook hands, waved and posed for
\nphotographs during their face-to-face meeting at Bali Police
\nHeadquarters last week.<\/p>\n
Education expert and rector of Yogyakarta State University,
\nSuyanto, agreed with Darmanto, saying that the country's
\neducation system had focused too much on intellectual and
\ncognitive aspects, while societal values were ignored, resulting
\nin graduates lacking in \"social capital\".<\/p>\n
\"In fact, according to the new paradigm in education, it's not
\nthe intellectual capital but the social capital that is
\nsignificant for the glory of a nation,\" said Suyanto, who defines
\n\"social capital\" as collective values shared by many to achieve
\ncommon objectives.<\/p>\n
Indonesians, according to Suyanto, have for some time not been
\ntaught about the values of tolerance and empathy, and how to
\nexpress them well. In the past, people were even exposed to
\nviolence on purpose. Broadcasting the film, G-30-S\/PKI (the Sept.
\n30, 1965 communist coup) annually on state TVRI television
\nstation was an example, he said.<\/p>\n
\"You may teach people about communism, but that (showing the
\nfilm) was not the right way to do it. It is not education,\" he
\nsaid, adding that movies and television soap operas that mainly
\nadopted the three main themes of violence, adultery and power
\nstruggles, further sped up the eroding sense of humanity among
\nIndonesians.<\/p>\n
At the same time, he said, education was very pragmatic. NEM
\n(assessments in the final national examination) have become the
\nonly standard of achievement. No room is given to non-NEM
\nachievements, including singing, literary skills and story-
\ntelling, regardless of the fact that these fields of study are
\nconsidered significant in the building of a student's character.<\/p>\n
\"Literary skills, for example, are important to teach students
\nabout beauty and patience. But, you see, no such skills are
\ntaught at present,\" Suyanto said, adding that the lessons were
\nscrapped from the national curriculum in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
The nation must pay a high price for the decision that was the
\nresult of the lack of the government's political will to consider
\neducation as important, he said.<\/p>\n
\"We are now trapped in a crisis, unable to get out of it, more
\nor less because we do not have the necessary social skills,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Providing an example of how important social skills were,
\nSuyanto said that in a country whose citizens had high social
\nskills, a traffic light failure would not lead to a traffic jam.
\nThat is because the people knew how to behave with consideration
\ntoward others, despite the absence of compulsion.<\/p>\n
Suyanto suggested, therefore, that the present education
\nsystem be totally changed to provide a balance between
\nintellectual and social aspects.<\/p>\n
\"Our task is therefore to create human beings who are not just
\nclever intellectually, but also smart socially, sociable, are
\nable to listen to others, tolerant and empathic,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"People are conditioned to think that mathematicians are cool,
\nwhich is not necessarily the case. Bad mathematicians won't make
\na nation chaotic, but bad politicians will,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Suyanto also reiterated that modifying the country's education
\nsystem toward a social capital-oriented one would restore the
\npeople's eroding sense of humanity.<\/p>\n
\"But, it will surely take time, a very long time,\" he said,
\nadding that the time needed to reeducate people who had already
\nlost their sense of humanity would be as long as the time they
\nhad taken to become what they were at present.<\/p>\n
\"If someone is 15 years old, for example, he will need at
\nleast 15 years to recover. Therefore, those who are already 50
\nyears or 80 years of age will not be able to recover before they
\ndie,\" he said.<\/p>",
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