Knowledge or Courage?

           Every morning, millions of students in this country rush in crowds. On streets, they pass each other as if the earth will collapse in seconds. They arrive at schools, follow the lessons, have a break, and go home at afternoon. The writer often wonders of what goes in their minds actually. What do they expect from an education? Do they completely realize why they do so? Coming to school, studying, doing homework or assignment?

Education aims at developing the learners (or students) to be a better human being. It has a broad coverage of aspects, such as the learner’s knowledge, communication, personality, socialization, and so on. However, the Indonesian education seems to depend mostly on certain aspects, which unfortunately do not give much impact on their life as a part of the world society. It means that education in this country needs to give more value to the learners’ life. It is known well that many schools nowadays give most orientation and attention to the learners’ ‘scientific’ achievement and success in doing an exam. Most of the educators have been accustomed to the ‘result’ rather than to the ‘process’.

Educators cannot be blamed for this condition. They live under the governmental policy. That is why they do not have much freedom to develop students’ personality, though they realize that it is necessary. Somehow, they are trapped between the government’s and their own ideal condition of education.

This condition is relatively disappointing, due to the main goals of education mentioned earlier.  There should be more efforts to help the learners develop their character, because character is undoubtedly the fundamental consideration to a better condition in Indonesian education specifically. The government has actually realized such efforts, by giving massive socialization about character education. However, this has not reached the most important participants of the education: the learners.

In order to give the learners more value about the character education, a change in curriculum needs to be done. As known, the curriculum in Indonesia pays more attention to certain subjects, which are included in the National Exam. The writer personally disagrees with the administration of National Exam, because it makes the students, in this case, burdened in studying those subjects. Burden, fright, or enforcement cannot be included in an education. The process of teaching and learning needs to be inspiring, exciting, and memorable. Therefore, there should be a big change in our educational curriculum.

The curriculum generally, and the teaching-learning process specifically, have to give students more courage, rather than knowledge. It is because having courage is a must, while having knowledge in an addition. For instance, many people have lived happily and successfully, though they do not have high level education. On the other hand, a well-educated person cannot always live successfully in a society, because he or she does not have courage. People need to take risk in life. In line with this, well-educated people often have many considerations before doing something. That is why they usually lose chances in their life. They have more fright than the less-educated ones. Therefore, the most important aspect that the students need to require is courage, supported by their enormous efforts to achieve their goals of life.

It will take years to make a change in Indonesian curriculum, if only the government has the same perspective in this concern. However, it is not an impossible vision. The educators must also take lead in spreading this point of view, reducing further misconception that now happens in many educational institutions about the ‘result’ orientation stated previously.  

Furthermore, education should also let the learners understand their own personality, in relation with the others. In this multi-conflict condition of nation, education must take the biggest part in anticipating the further impact. It has to prepare learners to have respectability and appreciation of difference. Some people see a difference as a connecting door, while the others see it as a thick wall giving prejudice. In this multicultural country, people face many possibilities of prejudice in daily life. Indonesian curriculum should facilitate this understanding, by letting them see people as a part of the world, as a human being, not as a Javanese, Moslem, Christians, et cetera.

Education can be in the first place to build a new Indonesia, a nation carrying peace, multiculturalism, and respect as its foundations. Some people might say that unifying Indonesians in a harmonious life is a dream. They got to know that many people have reach they dreams. They assume a dream based on their condition in that moment. But people change, people develop. So does Indonesia. It is a dream now, but it also means that we can realize that dream, someday, just someday.

With much love and happyness,

May 10^th, 2011

* This essay had been published previously in SAFEL's Essay Competition 2011