Students learn straight from nature

Students learn straight from nature

Badri Jawara, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi

Loud voices reciting the alphabet usually come out of formal
schools. But in Bulan, an area in Ampana Tete district in Poso
regency, the voices emerge from a clump of trees and bushes.

With no school uniforms and shoes, many children between six
and 12 years of age sit in groups under the trees to study. They
are full of enthusiasm, do not mind sitting on a bamboo floor or
pandanus mats. This particular form of education is witnessed
only in Mpoa, Bulan.

The lessons were initiated four years ago by the Merah Putih
Palu Foundation in response to local people's need of education
for their children. At that time, the only local elementary
school was in a resettlement area -- which is a four-hour walk
through a thick forest. If you walk from Tau Ta'a village, which
is a little farther from Mpoa, it could take a full day.

Called a village school, the idea to start these lessons came
from the Tau Ta'a, the indigenous ethnic group of Ta'a in Bulan.
The Tau Ta'a are one of a number of ethnic groups indigenous to
Central Sulawesi who are at home living in the jungle and
hinterland of Morowali, Poso and Banggai regencies.

Development has not touched the Tau Ta'a. The local residents
and their ancestors have been living in the village for
centuries. In the village, which is led by a customary elder, the
road is not yet paved and there is an absence of health
facilities.

Moreover, there are 271 Tau Ta'a school-age children in Bulan
who have never attended a formal school, while only a few adults
in the village can read and write.

These people are not careful about their clothes. They usually
wear traditional dress made of tree bark. They depend on the
forest, while some have learned to plant rice.

The only teacher at this open-air school is Wahyuddin AR.
Lamasitudju, a YMMP community organizer who is usually called
Dikdik by his pupils.

While teaching, Dikdik uses nature both as the "classroom" and
a visual aid. For instance, to teach pupils about the letter A,
he asks his pupils to collect items from the forest which begin
with A in the Ta'a language. Then, using this method, he not only
teaches the pupils about the alphabet but also familiarize them
with the Indonesian language by translating the chosen items'
names into Indonesian.

For mathematics, Dikdik asks his pupils to count how many
brothers or sisters they have. They must also be able to count
the head of cattle or plants and trees around their houses and in
the forest. The pupils carry with them various visual aids for
calculating, for example, stones, ribs of palm sugar leaf and
twigs.

Apart from Dikdik, the other "teachers" are the pupils
themselves or their parents.

Usually their parents tell the pupils which grass and leaves
are good for medicinal purposes and also how to concoct these
herbal medicines. Then the pupils also learn from their parents
how to plant rice or how to collect latex, a natural resource
which has become the village's prime commodity.

"This is what we mean by a village school. There are no
classrooms to separate them from one another, nor a strange
curriculum. These pupils can study anywhere, in their stilt
houses, in the fields or in a thick forest. They study while
playing," said Nasution Tjamang, YMPP executive director.

The foundation realizes, however, that there are still a few
shortcomings in the school which need further evaluation to
ensure the application of the right model for the school.

Before starting the school, the foundation explored 11 areas
on the border of three regencies (Morowali, Poso and Banggai)
where indigenous people live. It turns out these that areas have
seen no development at all. Education is something of a dream for
school-age children, especially those living in the most remote
villages like Kayu Marangka or Salumangge, which can only be
reached by foot, making most university graduate teachers
reluctant to go there.

For the foundation itself, starting the school was not easy.
According to Nasution, the foundation had to work hard to find
enough reading books.

"We just collect what we can, plus we get help from groups
concerned with this matter," he said.

The encouraging thing is, according to Nasution, the result of
this simple learning method is no worse compared to the formal
one. One of the pupils, came first in a test that he took part in
at the formal elementary school in Bulan Jaya resettlement post.

Still, it is too early to judge this school, which breaks the
rules of formal education and adapts the learning process to the
needs of local residents. But at least the foundation did
something.