Minister Nadiem Invites to Continue Independent Learning

It is believed that the Freedom to Learn Movement has begun to bring progress to the world of education and culture, so it needs to be continued.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

The participants showed their work while drawing together with students with intellectual disabilities and Down syndrome at the East Java Social Welfare Activities Coordinating Board (BKKKS) Building, Surabaya, East Java, Thursday (2/5/2024). The group drawing activity, which was attended by 100 participants, was carried out to welcome National Education Day.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The new face of Indonesian education and culture in the last five years is being built through the Freedom to Learn movement which is considered to be on the right track. However, the sustainability of the Merdeka Belajar movement requires the participation of all elements of education to continue to oversee it in order to take Indonesia forward.

"Five years is not a short time to carry out the task of leading the Freedom of Learning movement," said Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim when making a speech at the commemoration ceremony National Education Day ( National Education Day) 2024, Thursday (2/5/2024), in Jakarta.

However, he continued, five years is not a long time to make comprehensive changes. He stated that it is not easy to transform a very large system.

Also read: Embracing the Dream of Independent Learning for Educational Progress

In the commemoration of Hardiknas with this year's theme "Moving Together, Continuing the Independence of Learning", Nadiem acknowledged that it is not a simple task to change the perspective on learning. At the beginning of the journey, everyone realizes that change requires struggle. It is reasonable to have discomfort accompanying every step towards improvement and progress.

As a result, according to Nadiem, Indonesian children are now daring to dream because they feel free to learn in the classroom. Teachers are also brave enough to try new things because they have the trust to get to know and evaluate their students.

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

Yuli Yanika teaches at an inclusive school equivalent to elementary school at the Rumah Ceria Foundation, Medan, North Sumatra, Monday (29/4/2024).

Similarly, students are ready to work and contribute because the space for learning is no longer limited to within the campus. On the cultural side, there is now a thriving creative works of artists and cultural figures that are developing because they are continuously supported to excel.

Nadiem invites all related parties to continue the Merdeka Belajar movement sustainably. This is because society is starting to feel the changes in the education and cultural ecosystem that have occurred thanks to the movement.

"Everything we have tried must be continued as a journey towards realizing the school we aspire to," said Nadiem.

The condition of education no longer needs to be improved, but accelerated.

Furthermore, he said that his service as Minister of Education and Research and Technology would soon end. However, this does not mean the final point of the Independent Learning movement.

KOMPAS/NINA SUSILO

Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim

"With sincerity, I offer my heartfelt thanks for the struggles that you, Mothers and Fathers, have undertaken. I entrust 'Merdeka Belajar' to all of you, as the agents of change who do not know the word 'give up' in order to bring Indonesia to leap into the future," said Nadiem.

Not yet ideal

Separately, the initiator of the All Students All Teachers (SMSG) educational network, Najeela Shihab, in a media gathering entitled "Working Together to Create an Educational Ecosystem that is Child-Centered and Favored by Children" said that the ideal conditions for education, especially in schooling, it has not yet been achieved. Therefore, collaboration or joint work from many parties is needed to improve educational backwardness.

Also read: National Education Day, Get to Know the Prabowo-Gibran Education Program

"We have entered the demographic bonus. "The condition of education no longer needs to be improved, but accelerated," he said.

He said that an acceleration in educational improvements can be achieved through the involvement of many parties. This effort, he said, is to reach around 80 million Indonesian children in the education world.

KOMPAS/ESTER LINCE NAPITUPULU

Sogi Indra Dhuaja (left) served as a host at the 2019 Education Festival held by the Semua Murid Semua Guru network in Jakarta on Thursday, May 2, 2019.

Strengthen collaboration

Meanwhile, Chairman of Commission X DPR Syaiful Huda said that the Indonesian education system still faces many challenges in efforts to improve the quality of students. Policy makers, according to him, need to strengthen collaboration in finding breakthroughs in improving the national education system.

"We believe that currently there is a need to increase collaboration between education providers and the community to ensure that our educational policy direction is not top down. "Apart from that, this collaboration is needed to determine the policy priorities of education administrators so that they are in line with existing problems in the field," said Huda.

Huda stated that Indonesia's current education system achievements are still not very encouraging. This can be seen from several indicators, such as the low basic skills of students in literacy, science, and mathematics; unresolved issues regarding teacher welfare; and the limited access to higher education in the country.

Also read: Nadiem Makarim: Freedom to Learn is Not Just a Policy, but a Joint Movement

"Ironically, these major challenges seem to be faced with policies that are top down and narrow the involvement of civil society in the education sector," he said.

Regarding the Merdeka Belajar (Freedom of Learning) policy, it is said that many parties feel that the policy has not truly provided independence for education providers to formulate the best teaching and learning practices according to the needs of students. In practice, the Merdeka Belajar policy is still trapped in technical administrative activities that burden teachers and educational staff.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Students visited their classmates' stands selling various food products during the Gebyar UKM event at SMP Stella Duce 1 Yogyakarta, in the Dagen area of ​​Yogyakarta City, DIY, in March 2023.

"The establishment of the Merdeka curriculum starting from the academic year 2024/2025 is also a separate obstacle, despite a two-year adjustment period ahead," said Huda.

They hope that the government prioritizes solving the lifting of one million teachers to become government employees with work agreements (PPPK). This step is to ensure a solution for the welfare of teachers which has been an acute problem over time.

"The welfare of teachers is the key to any innovation in improving the quality of our education system. If the teachers are prosperous, regardless of the curriculum, the competency of the students to be developed, or the teaching methods chosen, the probability of success will be higher," said Huda.