MIMPI helps students get dream school
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Megamendung, Bogor
Pink Floyd's front man Roger Waters sang "We don't need no education" in the 1979 hit Another Brick in The Wall, which inspired millions of angst-ridden teenagers all over the globe.
Almost two decades later in 1998, director Robert Rodriguez used the song for his teen flick The Faculty.
While the impact of the song was not as strongly felt as it was 20 years ago, it still sounds appropriate even now.
Except for those enlightened students who have encouraged themselves to continue schooling and study hard, formal education is still daunting for the rest of them.
Many people struggle through their school years, trying to find out just how on earth trigonometry will make their future better.
Aiko Senosoenoto, the chairwoman of the advisory board of Buddha Dharma Indonesia (BDI), said many teenagers were becoming more and more unwilling to go to school.
"In many provinces, the number of school dropouts has increased. In most cases, it's not because they can't afford the tuition fee -- they just don't like it. Many students want to drop out during junior high school, thinking they can still find jobs and money without getting a degree," said Aiko, who is also an abbot and chairwoman of the prominent local dance company Eksotika Karmawibhangga Indonesia (EKI).
Concerned with the problem, Aiko and BDI used school as the theme of this year's annual Buddha youth meeting called Reaching the Independent Inspirations of Indonesian Youth (MIMPI).
"MIMPI is aimed at educating young people to be brave, to aim as high as possible in their dreams," Aiko said.
Last year's MIMPI theme was political parties, a kind of simulation where participants established their own parties and jury then chose who had the best party.
This year, some 600 participants aged between 13 and 30 from all over the place gathered together early this month for a week at the Sadaparibhuta Vihara complex in Megamendung.
Three months earlier, they were asked to submit a proposal of an ideal school, complete with curriculum, profiles of the teachers, the management and financial outlook.
Out of the 66 proposals, three were chosen to be realized during the Mimpi meeting at Megamendung.
The first school was the Creativity Intelligence School, which encouraged its students to be creative and not afraid to change through classes, such as music and drawing.
The second one was a writing school called Bengkel Tiga Jari (Three-finger Workshop).
The last one was called the Baby Face School, which was aimed at producing young positive thinkers.
Throughout the week, the principals and their teams from each school ran a campaign to attract students, find investors and also teachers.
After that, school began, with students attending classes as they usually would, from morning to afternoon.
"We helped them find teachers and bring them here," said Aiko, referring to the famous names ranging from puppeteer/singer Sujiwo Tejo to actress Lola Amaria.
At the end of the week, the "government" or jury from BDI chose the writing school as the winner.
"It was the most specific and focused school. It taught a skill that's important in developing one's self-confidence," Aiko said.
The school is also unique because its principal, Agus Priyono, 26, had not finished high school, saying "it was monotonous".
He had worked at BDI, and later found a job as manager of a wayang suket (grass puppet) group.
"But when the group demanded better management, I couldn't provide it because I was not educated. I'm also not confident in dating girls," he said.
As for writing, Agus said he found that many students were weak in thinking systematically.
"And I think writing is a media which helps a lot in our way of thinking and solving problems," he said.
He, however, stumbled upon the fact that writing was intimidating for many students. Agus got an enrollment of only 105 students out of the 600 participants.
"Therefore, I wanted to motivate my friends, and myself, to write more," he said.
After the program, he said he would take a high school equivalency test and study at college, or at least take some courses.
"I also want to put together some programs for back in my village, to help those illiterate farmers to read and write. A lot of times, they suffer financial losses because they don't read the paper. They plant cloves, for example, not knowing that the price has dropped. I want to help them."
And what about Agus' fellow participants?
According to the head of the organizing committee, Aman Utario, the kids are high-spirited, especially those from outside of Jakarta.
But will the students leave the program with a greater appreciation for school and a greater willingness to study?
One of the participants only smiled when asked that. But then again, the students are not the ones to be blamed if school turns out to be boring rather than inspiring.