Education is the right of everyone no matter where he/she lives whether in a big city or rural areas around the country. Seeing the unbalanced condition in terms of education, Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teaching), a movement spearheaded by young people in Indonesia, also participates actively in education aspect in this country.
The group invited young people who will be assigned in various parts of the country to do service to the community by sharing knowledge. In November 2011, the first batch of Young Teachers from Indonesia Mengajar Program finished the program.
"Certainly many stories they shared after giving service in rural areas. These are later published in a book Kisah Para Pengajar Muda di Pelosok Negeri (The Story of Young Teachers around the Country)," one of the young teachers, Mufti Nurlatifah, said in Auditorium of Graduate Program of UGM Faculty of Social and Political Sciences on Tuesday (6/12) on the sidelines of the book launching.
The book, said Mufti Nurlatifah, contains the story of the young teachers of Indonesia Mengajar in remote areas, how they devoted themselves to share experiences as young teachers. "A lot of interesting experiences can inspire other Indonesian young generation," she added.
Therefore, to review what happened during their time as young teachers and what they experienced, Mufti, who is in charge of book launching, introduced two young teachers who wrote the book, Agus Rachmanto and Adeline Magdalena.
In their stories it is clear that it is not easy for young people leaving the comfort of the city and away from family to be teachers. They do not just teach how to read, write and count, but also teach many values of goodness. "Look at Agus Rachmanto’s experience while in the border area between Bengkalis and Malaka. In the remote area, he did not only do teaching, but also dealing with border issues. Similarly, the experience of Adeline Magdalene, as a Chinese descendant, it was not easy for her to teach in the community," Mufti said.
Mufti hoped that the Indonesian young teachers are able to give inspiration to students of Communication Sciences of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. They are expected not to confuse any longer about where to devote themselves after graduation. "At least, the activity delivered by Indonesia Mengajar, book publisher Bentang Pustaka, and facilitator Department of Communication Sciences UGM can provide brainstorming to Communication Sciences students, particularly from Class 2011," said the assistant researcher at Department of UGM Communication Sciences.