Lombok Barat’s SRMP 18 Builds Students’ Character Through Boarding System

Lombok Barat (ANTARA) – Sekolah Rakyat Menengah Pertama (SRMP) 18 Lombok Barat in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) places emphasis on character education through a boarding system, equipping students with academic skills, spiritual values, discipline and the ability to interact socially.

Head of SRMP 18 Lombok Barat Satria Irwandi said the boarding-school system builds character not only during classroom lessons but also through everyday life in the school environment.

“Students are taught not only cognitive skills, but also spiritual abilities and how to interact with others,” he said when met at SRMP 18 Lombok Barat in NTB on Saturday.

He said students needed more than intellectual ability: they also needed discipline, social skills and values that supported their development.

“We supervise them 24 hours a day, with a care system in place to build their character. Caregivers and dormitory supervisors take on the role of their parents,” Satria said.

Alongside character education, SRMP 18 Lombok Barat takes an inclusive approach, accepting students from low-income families with diverse backgrounds and academic abilities.

Satria said students who had difficulty learning to read, were involved in fights or faced other problems were not automatically expelled from the Sekolah Rakyat.

The school first assesses students to understand the problems they face before deciding what support is needed.

“We ask Sentra Paramita, the Social Affairs Ministry’s representative in NTB, for help from a psychologist to assess them,” Satria said.

SRMP 18 Lombok Barat currently has 100 students supported by 14 teachers. The pilot school also has caregivers, dormitory supervisors and kitchen staff to support its boarding-based education.

Muhammad Marzuki, an eighth-grade student at SRMP Lombok Barat, said he was happy to study at the Sekolah Rakyat, particularly when learning science.

The 14-year-old, who hopes to become a doctor, said he wanted to continue his education through university.

“The Sekolah Rakyat has many facilities. When I first came here, I didn’t know how to use them,” said Marzuki, the son of a farm labourer who speaks Japanese fluently.