The Importance Of Character

Education
Education cannot be separated from the people. This opinion was shared by the founders of the nation
and educational figures at the beginning of independence. For them, education is an asset of a nation
and is used to achieve its collective ideals.
We can look at Bung Hatta's thoughts. According to Bung Hatta, education must serve the needs of the
people. Therefore, lessons or curriculum must also be adjusted to the interests of the people in its
development. That is, if now the people are developing, then educational institutions must print 'developmental
workers'.
So, for those responsibilities to be carried out, national education must prioritize character education. For Bung
Hatta, the aim of the university was not merely to educate people for science, but also to educate its
character. "Science can be learned by anyone who is intelligent and sharp-brained, but human character can not
be obtained just like that," said Bung Hatta.
Human characteristics include: love of the truth, siding with the people, ready to fight for the country in all
fields of life, critical-constructive thinking, serving humanity, and others.
This is the dilemma in our present education. The national education system, which is increasingly subject to
market ideology, is increasingly distant from the interests of the people and the state. National education no
longer produces human characters. As a result, we have many experts or thinkers in all fields, but very few are
dedicated to the country and the people.
Just look at our economists. Many of them are studying economics abroad. However, when they became state
officials, their policies actually destroyed the national economy and impoverished the people. They have
advanced degrees and understand economic theories. However, their style of thinking has not been separated
from " economische minderwaardigheid ", which is a disease of people who always feel inferior in the
economy.
There are several problems here. First, the process of organizing our education has shifted from the spirit of
opening the 1945 Constitution, which is to educate the nation's life, to the spirit of serving the interests of
accumulated profits.
Second, the education curriculum is no longer based on the needs of the people. What happens is that the
curriculum is structured according to the interests of the labor market and the needs of the capitalist
industry. Finally, much of the knowledge developed at universities cannot answer the people's concrete
problems.
Third, the process of providing education is almost without the participation and involvement of the
masses. University walls are built up high to separate campus life from the people around it. As a result, such
educational institutions are isolated from the masses of the people. Most of the educational institutions in
Indonesia are like ivory towers in the midst of the masses.
Fourth, many university officials in Indonesia have inland mentality. This is seen, for example, in the spirit of
"alienation" of tertiary institutions. They are proud if the campus gets the category " world class
university ". Ironically, the internationalization of education is only meant as the use of a foreign language
(English) in the introduction to lectures. While the style and depth of knowledge are still underdeveloped.
Fifth, national education is now very discriminatory, segmentative, and has many exceptions. The only people
who can get an education are those who are able to buy or pay dearly. This is due to the operation of market
ideology in the world of national education.
Keenam, pendidikan nasional saat ini sangat alergi dengan fikiran-fikiran kritis dan emansipatoris. Akhir-akhir
ini kita sering menyaksikan keputusan pejabat universitas mend-DO mahasiswa-mahasiswa kritis. Juga, tak
sedikit universitas yang alergi dengan pergerakan mahasiswa.