Prof. Fahrurrozi Emphasises Education as the Nation's Greatest Investment, UNJ Prepares Human Resources...
The momentum of National Education Day (Hardiknas) 2026 serves as a crucial reminder that the nation’s progress is largely determined by the quality of its education. Professor Fahrurrozi, Professor at the Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Jakarta (FIP UNJ) and Vice Rector for Research, Innovation, and Information Systems at UNJ, asserts that Indonesia’s most strategic investment is not merely physical development, but rather human development through education.
According to him, Indonesia’s education sector is currently on the right track and aligns with government policies. Nevertheless, improvements are still needed in several areas to make national education more equitable, high-quality, and capable of addressing future challenges.
“If Indonesia wants to become a great nation, a superpower, then its education system must advance. The greatest investment is education,” stated Prof. Fahrurrozi during an interview on 30 April 2026 at the Rectorate Building, UNJ Campus.
In line with this, he added that education is the primary provision for society to sustainably improve living standards. Unlike physical investments that can lose economic value, education becomes a long-term asset inherent to human resources.
In this context, UNJ is seen as having a central role as a higher education institution long known for producing educators. As an education-focused campus, UNJ is expected to continue driving the transformation of Indonesian education through strengthening teacher quality, learning innovations, and developing a modern education ecosystem.
“UNJ must stay on track as an institution producing quality teachers and serve as an example for the future direction of Indonesian education,” he said.
Prof. Fahrurrozi also highlighted the importance of equitable teacher professionalism through the Teacher Professional Education (PPG) programme. In his view, enhancing national education quality must start with competent, certified teachers who receive fair recognition.
Furthermore, he emphasised that future education cannot solely focus on academic achievements. Education must build character, ethics, resilience, mental toughness, as well as values of faith and good deeds to produce well-rounded superior generations.
“We do not want to produce academically intelligent children but weak in ethics and morals. Academic and non-academic aspects must go hand in hand,” he explained.
Further, Prof. Fahrurrozi believes that education investments should also be directed towards strategic sectors aligned with Indonesia’s strengths, such as agriculture, mining, natural resources, and downstream industries.
Higher education institutions, including UNJ, play a vital role in preparing top talents so that Indonesia’s natural wealth can be processed domestically and add value to the nation.
UNJ itself has demonstrated tangible contributions through various best education practices, one of which is Lab School UNJ, recognised as one of Indonesia’s leading schools. Additionally, UNJ has a child growth and development service centre that exemplifies the importance of early childhood education investment.
According to him, building superior generations must start from when the child is in the womb, continued with nutritional fulfilment, good basic education services, and a healthy, quality growth environment.
“Do not look at the results today. Education is an investment for the future. If children are built from an early age, Indonesia will reap great generations in the future,” he stressed.
Prof. Fahrurrozi also emphasised that nutrition contributes fundamentally to education development. In his view, human resource quality is not only shaped through classroom learning but also starts from meeting nutritional needs from an early age, even from the womb.
“Children who receive good nutrition tend to have optimal physical growth, better concentration abilities, and higher learning readiness,” he said.
Therefore, nutrition fulfilment programmes such as nutritious school meals represent long-term education investments. With adequate nutrition, students can develop maximally in terms of intelligence, health, and character.
He assesses that Indonesia’s superior generations can only be realised if education goes hand in hand with serious attention to children’s health and nutrition.
In closing his statement, Prof. Fahrurrozi interprets National Education Day as a moment for collective reflection to look towards Indonesia’s future with optimism through quality education.
“With proper education and upbringing, Indonesia will produce highly quality children. That is our great shared hope,” he concluded.