Universal education will stop disintegration

Universal education will stop disintegration

By Iwan Pranoto

BANDUNG (JP): Many believe that the 1928 Generation, mostly
consisting of young educated civilians, had the most important
role in the nation's history. This is because in 1928 the
country's founding fathers had a very progressive vision of what
Indonesia should be in the future.

They declared that vision on Oct. 28, 1928, through a youth
pledge, well known as Sumpah Pemuda -- One Country, One Nation,
and One Language: Indonesia.

It can be imagined how hard it would be for Indonesians to
write and declare the same pledge at this time. The pledge has
now become an empty slogan because Indonesians can no longer
state the pledge whole-heartedly.

The planned celebration of the youth pledge on Oct. 28 will be
quite ironic because during the current economic and political
crises, disintegration problems are threatening the unity of the
republic.

The nation's unity faces challenges from some groups which
have raised various aspects ranging from regional to religious
and ethnic issues.

Furthermore, with reference to the mid-May rioting in Jakarta
and other cities, it is difficult to believe that some
Indonesians were very cruel and violent toward their own brothers
and sisters. Such an incident is so contradictory to the youth
pledge.

At a governmental level, many discriminatory policies are
applied which give an impression that goals justify any means.
Corrupt practices, therefore, can flourish in the country.

Worse still, these days so many unlawful things are happening
in the country, such as looting and gang raping. The worst thing
is that they happen against weak people. The popular belief
saying that Indonesian people are peace-loving and tolerant
becomes only a myth. What can actually be seen is just the fears
on the faces of silent brothers and sisters surrounding the
burned neighborhoods.

However, the majority of Indonesian people still believe in
the unity of this nation. Historically, Indonesians were very
tolerant. Because of their tolerance, the old kingdoms could
prosper and trade boomed. Therefore, it is ironic that nowadays
some of them are promoting disintegration issues.

As members of this nation, all citizens have to solve the
disintegration problem together and education is the only
possible and effective way to do this. Through education, they
can enlighten themselves on the unity concept made by their
founding fathers.

Through education, they can keep learning universal values and
keep reminding themselves about their existing differences that
have made their lives rich.

An educated community will create healthy surroundings,
without the need for violence or intolerance.

As compared to traditional education which is provided in
school buildings, the proposed universal education can be
provided through a more general and informal institution.

The main mission of the institution is to create a conducive
environment, provide each person with opportunities to improve
their ability to reason, and to learn to live together. It will
open opportunities for its members to discuss matters and learn
others' interests.

This kind of environment will produce an intellectual culture
facilitating an effective learning process.

However, this environment must be able to overcome space and
time constraints, meaning that it must be able to reach rural
areas in a short amount of time with the least amount of
investment.

Such universal education for the creation of an intellectual
environment has been initiated by the state-owned PT Pos
Indonesia. After learning that the disintegration problem facing
Indonesia is threatening, the company proposed a model called
Information Society or Masyarakat Informasi (Masif ) in Bahasa
Indonesia.

Using Internet facilities and other infrastructure, the
company plans to enable each of the Masif members to obtain and
exchange information.

The company plans for the service to be available on Oct. 28
at post offices throughout the country, ranging from provincial
capitals to rural villages.

The service will initially include electronic-mail, mailing
list and Internet exploring facilities.

Utilizing this service, a person residing high on Mount
Jayawijaya in Irian Jaya will be able to express her/his
perspective on national issues or discuss different issues raised
by other members residing in various areas of the country. Thus,
the environment will provide an opportunity for its people to
learn differences of opinion and, at the same time, to appreciate
them. It will create a climate feasible for its people to learn
to be tolerant with each other and to enlighten themselves about
the diversity of the nation, as well as the values of fairness,
honesty, respect and trust.

If the company plans to focus its services for the
intellectually strong community, other parties should look for
ways to serve the intellectually weak community, which is usually
considered as a submissive group that can be exploited.

Teachers at elementary schools in rural villages, who can be
regarded as members of this latter community, are very often
neglected under the government's development programs, even
though they play a strategic role in educating children for the
advancement of the future generation. In addition amounts are
often deducted from their low salaries by government officials.

Actually, the future of the next generation will depend very
much on such teachers. But their way of teaching is tightly
controlled by the central government. The materials taught in the
classrooms, for example, are chosen by the government in Jakarta.
The truth of materials is monopolized by the government, while
the teachers are only transferring them from books to the
memories of their students.

Besides that, the teaching method is closer to a form of
indoctrination and students are conditioned to memorize things,
not to learn to reason. As a matter of fact, this is actually one
of the reasons why most Indonesian university students and other
society members nowadays are only submissive listeners, not
critical thinkers and creative learners.

For a better future, teachers must be promoted as agents of
change because they can absorb new information and convey it to
their students.

The information obtained by a teacher can be distributed to
more than 50 students easily. It will indeed be a strategic step
for the building of the nation if services are provided that
would encourage teachers to expand their knowledge.

Utilizing such services, teachers residing in rural villages
can learn to improve their teaching processes to make their
students learn more effectively.

The writer is a math lecturer at the Bandung Institute of
Technology.