National Education Day 2015: The Quality in Education Should Be Relevant and Useful for the Nation

The National Education Day gives some personal meaning to most people in Indonesia, including to Firdaus Alamsjah, Ph.D., the Executive Dean and Provost of BINUS INTERNATIONAL (BI) and the Dean of BINUS BUSINESS SCHOOL (BBS).

Recalling this every the second day of May, Feri (the nickname of Firdaus), always remembers the spirit of Ki Hajar Dewantara in developing education in Indonesia. With his slogans Ing Ngarso Sing Tulodo, Ing Madya Mangun Karso, and Tut Wuri Handayani, Ki Hajar Dewantara played a big part in creating the Indonesian education until nowadays.

Those wise proverbs are stuck in Feri’s mind as an educator. He thought the philosophy of them is still relevant with today’s education world. It is absolute for an educator to have mind set like what Ki Hajar Dewantara taught.

“A good educator should have mind set like that in educating the students. Remember, an educator is different with a teacher. Educator has more responsibilities than only teaching at class,” Feri explained.

He said to apply that wise words in the Indonesian education life, it needs a full understanding of the meaning of each word there.

Ing Ngarso Sing Tulodo, meaning “in front should set an example,” needs to be applied by our educators to set a good example for their students. Take a simple case for the example, Feri mentioned about being on time for teaching. A lecturer shouldn’t arrive late when he/she teaches students.  There are more examples that could be used for models for the students.

Ing Madya Mangun Karso or “in the middle should take initiative and be cooperative” could mean that an educator should give something for his/her country’s education. The ways to do that could be like creating scientific works which are not only valuable for academic world but the information could also answer the problems people have at the moment. All parts of the education system should cooperate very well to develop Indonesian education.

Lastly, Tut Wuri Handayani or “at the back should give support” could mean that the role of educators is to give their skills and talents to support students working to build nation.

“If those slogans are really understood and applied by our educators, then I certainly believe that education in Indonesia will improve and we could make this nation bigger – it’s like what Ki Hajar Dewantara had dreamed about,” Feri said.

Both BI and BBS recall the spirit of National Education Day by maintaining the best quality of education. With today’s challenges in education world, these institutions will keep giving their best through the international-level lecturers, smart students and national-and-international-accredited programs and curriculum. In that way, we could accomplish the mission of giving a relevant and supportive education for the country.

Happy National Education Day 2015!