Stigma and the Portrait of Education in Remote Areas

Education is one of the indicators of a nation's progress. If its education advances, the country will advance too. According to the Sisdiknas Law (National Education System) No. 20 of 2003, education is a conscious and planned effort to create a learning atmosphere and learning process so that students actively develop their potential. This effort is carried out by people who have a sense of responsibility for building the future of students, with the goals to be achieved through the educational process.

Education in Indonesia is regulated in the 1945 Constitution Article 31 paragraph (1), which states that every citizen has the right to receive an education, and paragraph (3), which affirms that the government strives for and organises a single national education system that increases faith, piety and noble character in order to educate the life of the nation, as regulated by law.

The Constitution implies that every citizen has the right to receive an education, whether in the city or in the village. The development of technology makes the world of education constantly innovate, finding new discoveries in order to advance education in Indonesia. However, not all elements of society can experience the progress of technology and information, village communities for example. This is caused by the lack of adequate infrastructure, unstable internet connections, and so on.

The problem of educational infrastructure in remote areas has become a crucial problem in the world of education. Many school buildings are damaged and unfit for use, especially in remote areas. This condition is made worse by the lack of supporting learning books, and by school libraries whose condition is uncomfortable to use.

The condition of the internet network in remote areas is also an obstacle for people in accessing the internet. According to data from the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII), there are still about 117 million Indonesians who have not yet been reached by the internet. This is caused by Indonesia's geographical location, which consists of tens of thousands of islands; in addition, the vastness of the sea and the many mountains are also obstacles to providing internet networks.

These matters are serious problems currently faced by the government, considering that in the present pandemic era all activities are done from home, including teaching and learning activities. It is no wonder that many people complain about this problem. Although the government has provided free data quota subsidies for learning, this will be in vain if it is not accompanied by efforts to equalise internet networks in remote areas.

In order to address the problem of equal distribution of educational facilities and infrastructure, the government has designated 3T regions (Frontier, Outermost and Disadvantaged) based on the approval of the relevant ministries/agencies together with regional governments. The 3T regions are district areas whose communities and territories are relatively less developed compared with other regions on a national scale.

Besides inadequate facilities and infrastructure, education in remote areas also faces a shortage of educators or teachers. In relation to this problem, the government has in fact placed new civil servant teachers in remote areas, but because of limited access to those areas and the minimal educational facilities provided, the teachers feel uncomfortable teaching there and decide to move to other areas.

The problems described above are a challenge in themselves for students in remote areas. It is no wonder that most people in those areas have low awareness of education. This worsens the number of people who receive an education, especially at the higher education level, because many parents do not allow their children to continue their studies at university.

The stigma about higher education is deeply rooted in village communities. They consider that a bachelor's graduate is no different from a high school graduate if both end up looking for work, and even that bachelor's graduates will only waste time and money. This way of thinking is not unfamiliar to people living in villages or remote areas, although not all of them think the same way.

When it comes to the community's stigma about education, there is nothing else that can be done except for the millennial generation in those areas themselves to try to change people's mindset little by little. The role of the millennial generation is very much needed in this effort, considering that people will not fully trust the ability of students or the millennial generation to empower their environment without real action.

One real action that students can demonstrate is to show the softskill that they hone while studying, such as leadership, critical thinking skills in solving problems, organisational skills, and so on. These abilities are very much needed in society for empowering its own environment.

Besides empowering the environment, these abilities serve as proof that pursuing higher education is not only for getting a job, but also a way to raise their quality of life by forming outstanding and high-quality generations.

As a closing editorial note, the government and society ought to work in synergy with one another to realise the goals of the Indonesian nation set out in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution, namely “to educate the life of the nation”. The government is expected to keep making efforts to equalise educational facilities and infrastructure, and society to always keep its eyes and minds open to developments in education so that a nation that excels intellectually can be created.

Newspaper : Pos Belitung 

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