Character Education Determines the Future of the Nation

Character Education Determines the Nation's Future

Nurul Aini

Chemistry Education Student, Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta

“This nation does not lack clever people, but it lacks honest people_”

 (Dr. Kasino Hadiwibowo)

The quotation above implies that Indonesia has human resources of intellectual quality, but their moral quality needs to be questioned. The poem entitled “Sajak Anak Muda” (Poem of a Young Person) written by W.S. Rendra also expresses that education in Indonesia is considered not very successful in shaping the character of the nation's generation. Education in Indonesia generally prioritises formal education and sets moral education aside.

 The education system is felt to follow the education system of Western nations, in which the education system prepares young people to be skilled in technology and industry. Expertise in technology and industry is indeed needed to advance the Indonesian nation. However, what would happen if the development of industrial technology were not accompanied by good moral quality as well? There would certainly be an imbalance.

This nation needs a young generation that is of noble character, intelligent,  independent, creative, and able to adapt to the life to come. For that reason, the formation of young people's character is needed from an early age. In reality, character education is indeed instilled from an early age, that is, when a person attends Early Childhood Education or PAUD. Even though moral education has been given from an early age, many forget the moral values that have been taught. For example, there are many perpetrators of corruption who are educated people with high levels of education.

Why can corruption cases occur? There are several causal factors, two of which are human greed and the weak instilling of morals in a person. A person whose morals are not strong will be more easily tempted to commit corruption. The temptation can come from superiors, colleagues at the same level, subordinates, or other parties who give the opportunity for it.

 Seeing this reality, the moral crisis becomes quite a serious problem. The development of the times, followed by the ever more rapid development of information technology, has brought various impacts to various aspects of life. The resulting impacts can be both positive and negative. The impacts that arise also come back to each individual who interacts with all the progress in life today.

The increasingly rapid progress of information technology and the flow of globalisation make it ever harder to filter everything circulating in cyberspace. To avoid undesirable things, each individual must be smart in sorting and choosing what is good and what is bad. When a person's morals are not strong enough, they will easily be swept away by the current of technology and pay little attention to ethics.

In facing the various problems that occur in the current era of globalisation, character education becomes the main capital for preparing the younger generation as the successors of the nation's life. In the context of national and state life, character education aims to develop the values that embody the nation's character, namely Pancasila. Character education should be formed from childhood.

The character education system is applied not only at school but also in society and, most importantly, in the family. The success of moral education in the family environment depends on the role of parents in educating and setting an example for their children. The moral education that must be instilled in the family environment includes values such as honesty, harmony, politeness and also discipline.

To make character education successful in the family environment, parents need to take real steps in guiding their children.  Steps that parents can take include giving input of knowledge and teaching how to put that knowledge into practice in daily activities. This can sharpen children's intelligence, so that children not only understand and memorise theory but are also able to practise what they understand.  Next, parents need to take positive actions in order to model what should be done and what must not be done.  

Parents also need to give enough playtime, because it can sharpen children's creativity, and should not restrain children to make them do what we want. Restraining will not make children obedient; instead it will put the child's mind under pressure  and in the end they will rebel.  When giving advice, parents should use language that is easy for the child to understand, without harsh words. Giving appreciation is also important to value every good thing the child does; conversely, when a child makes a mistake, punishment also needs to be given so that the child realises the risks of the action. However, the punishment must also be educational and must not put pressure on the child.  

In the school environment, character education can be formed through small habits that direct a person to become more orderly and focused, such as being disciplined in obeying school rules, being honest and independent in doing assignments, being religious, having high curiosity, caring about the environment, and fostering a sense of responsibility so as to dare to take the risks of what one does. If the success of character education has been achieved, a generation of the nation that is intelligent, honest and dignified will be formed. Thus it can bring progress to  the Indonesian nation.

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