Deputy Minister Stella: National Development Begins with Human Development
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Deputy Minister for Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Stella Christie, emphasised that the development of a nation and its civilisation must begin with strengthening human quality from an early age to optimise brain development, thinking abilities, and human resource capacity.
“If we want to build a strong nation and civilisation, what must be built most is the people. And building people—their brain and mind development, their human abilities—is all heavily influenced and formed from early childhood education (PAUD),” said Deputy Minister Stella in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The cognitive psychology expert highlighted the importance of a child’s ability to learn and adapt to their environment. She noted that children possess extraordinary potential from the start, while the surrounding environment plays a vital role in developing that potential.
Consequently, she urged educators and parents to reconsider how daily environments can support a child’s developmental abilities.
“To that end, the use of digital devices needs to be managed wisely, so as not to reduce opportunities for children to interact, learn, and develop their thinking skills through their surroundings,” she said.
Deputy Minister Stella also encouraged educators to view the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) not as a replacement for human thinking, but as part of a learning environment that must be approached with wisdom.
According to her, the advancement of AI actually reinforces the importance of human abilities that do not merely rely on the ability to memorise information. One essential skill that needs to be developed from an early age is the ability to recognise patterns, structures, or analogies.
“Analogy and the ability to see structure is what allows scientists to discover new knowledge. So imagine, if our children are able to see structures, structural similarities, and pattern similarities from a young age, the likelihood of them becoming scientists will also be greater,” said Stella Christie.