[EDUCATION] Ai Nurhidayat | Building Plural Civilizations Not In 'Formal Schools'

Ai Nurhidayat (Source: Special)

Ai Nurhidayat was once very ambitious in pursuing the first place in the class. As a smart kid, that ambition always paid off. But life took her way of thinking in another direction. Academic crap turned into trash for him. Ai was enlightened by the values that Ki Hajar Dewantara shouted out. Studying these values made Ai realize that education is much more human than a score system. Education is an energy that fills the human souls. It is through education that civilization is at stake. Likewise with society and life in full variety in it. Ai built SMK Bakti Karya Parigi to practice all these beliefs.

Ai Nurhidayat is a goat shepherd. He is also a gardener. The boy who was born in Ciamis, June 22, 1989, was filled with interactions with natural elements. He is not a child who travels to remote areas for tourism. By his parents, Ai was actually brought to a life closer to human authenticity. That closeness that raises many questions in his head. The root of how Ai lives becomes a critical thinking human. This skepticism carried over to school.

One day in his childhood Ai fell from a jackfruit tree. The incident made him absent from school for some time. This makes Ai's position as the number one in the class shifted. He was angry not playing. Understandably, that day Ai was an ambitious person who always pursued first place in class. An ambition that he later realized was pseudo.

"Because I didn't enter, my ranking was in second place. Until then I was really angry with the ranking system. Why? Cook just because I didn't enter, it looks like someone who is not smart anymore. Anyway, since then I have become dislike the system. ranking, "said Ai, in a conversation by telephone, Friday, September 18.

Ai has been thinking special since the dreams he hung in his childhood. When he was in elementary school, Ai pocketed his dreams as Chairman of the MPR. Unusual, indeed. But it has a solid foundation. The basis is also very political. Ai's political awareness grew so strong even though he was still a child.

"At that time, it was reformation. In my head there were only Soeharto and Soeharto presidents. I happened to be participating in the PKN competition at that time. One of the reasons I still remember is, 'The MPR's authority includes the duties and functions of the MPR to appoint and dismiss the president.' So that at that time I felt 'really sophisticated, the chairman of the MPR.' Since I learned about that matter, when I was asked what I wanted to be, I answered 'I want to be chairman of the MPR.' "

Ai Nurhidayat

This is how life has shaped Ai's critical thoughts from childhood. Ai then continued his studies at the Darussalam Islamic Boarding School, Ciamis, West Java. In the pesantren he honed critical values and equipped them with acceptance values. The pesantren formed Ai to be a tolerant person. From the classroom, the student council room, to all of his activities as head of the cross-school journalism community, Ai sharpens his communication skills. He also encountered many differences and studied diversity.

Graduated from a pesantren, Ai studied at the State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta. Ai didn't finish the study. Ai only had one year of college. Even so, Ai admitted that his college days were full of intellectual activities. His critical thinking was honed even more through the demonstration stage. There Ai also promoted literacy and journalistic activities.

Ai Nurhidayat (Instagram / @ ainurhidayatmars)

"That's why I wrote it myself, published it myself so that on F4 paper there are four articles that are cut in half. And the pieces are folded in half. Well, it looks like a small comic sheet. So, one F4 sheet can be two copies. spread in front of the campus with a capital of Rp. 20 thousand. Own capital. My thoughts were that my ideas were spread in front of the campus itself. After that I did a demonstration. Sometimes there were friends at demonstrations, sometimes not. "

"Well, the turning point was when I got to know the figure of Nurcholish Madjid. Then I read home the demonstration from Bali in the library that there was a Paramadina scholarship. I applied for a scholarship and finally I moved to Paramadina University."

At Paramadina, Ai's movements did not stop. He even served as Secretary General (Secretary General) of the Paramadina Student Union. In addition, at Paramadina Ai, he provided himself with a lot of book readings on Islamic thought, modernization, and Indonesianness. There also Ai's love for Indonesia grows. With the life process that she has passed, Ai has managed to see diversity in a beautiful way, as beautiful as the love she found for the archipelago. More than love, there Ai found the idea to ground her love through "Multicultural Class".

Multicultural Class

One day Ai found the news about SMK Bakti Karya Parigi in Pangandaran, West Java which was almost bankrupt. Together with his friends from the Sabalad Learning Community, Ai later acquired the school. With the initial intention of saving the fate of the remaining 20 students, Ai and his friends went into a more serious devotion. Since then Ai's dream has exceeded the nonsense dream of the MPR Chairmen. Ai went straight to building a true education.

Over time, SMK Bakti Karya Parigi found his vision, together with Ai who continues to solidify his belief in education which is not only about scores and memorization. At SMK Bakti Karya, Ai and the Sabalad Learning Community run the Multicultural Class Program. Through this program Ai not only presents education but also actualizes diversity. The first challenge for Ai and his friends at that time was the administrative bureaucracy for relocating, legality, and new management.

Ai Nurhidayat while participating in the CXC Global Conference in Thailand (Source: Special)

"When I moved hands from the previous foundation to the one I lead, I also didn't understand the structure or the method. The point is, I don't understand the world of formal schools. So, because I didn't understand formal schooling, I studied. Precisely because I don't understand, I am curious. Instead of always playing outside formal school. The ones that produce a lot of graduation are formal schools. So I thought, 'it is appropriate for many people to feel displeased with school because there are indeed many things at school that are difficult to understand.'

Ai Nurhidayat

The idea was finally realized in 2016. To fund the school that was founded, Ai and his friends created a donation program which they named "Bakti Karya Fellow". The program captures newly graduated students as foster siblings for the children of SMK Bakti Karya Parigi. Each person can donate in the amount of IDR 50,000 per month to keep the school moving. Thanks to the donation, SMK Bakti Karya Parigi has survived until now it has reached its fifth generation.

Regarding the teaching staff, Ai involved community members. Therefore, the teaching staff of SMK Bakti Karya Parigi now consists of young people aged 20-22 years. At this point Ai realized the magnitude of the challenges that must be faced by teachers in Indonesia to carry out education. Especially for Ai, who was 25 at the time and had to lead a row of young teachers at SMK Bakti Karya Parigi.

Ai Nurhidayat in Multicultural Class (Source: Special)

Apart from community members, SMK Bakti Parigi is open to people who want to teach. The community can be involved in volunteering and teaching every Saturday. Teachers take turns filling in classes each week. Currently, there are at least more than 150 professionals who have taught at SMK Bakti Karya Parigi.

Related to the difference in the learning process between multicultural classes and classes in other formal schools, there are quite a lot. From the input side, for example. Multicultural Class students do not only come from one area. The students come from 28 ethnic groups in 21 provinces throughout Indonesia. Apart from diversity, the Multicultural Classroom also builds a more vibrant and dynamic learning atmosphere. The differences between students are used to get to know each other.

"Well, because it is public friendly, it is funded by the public, and the public can participate in the teaching process there. Even the closest public. This means that we make the name Kampung Nusantara. So this school is integrated with the community. Even the learning pattern follows the community pattern. So, if for example there is, we usually take the study off not at school. For example, when planting rice, at the time of the rice harvest, or at a celebration or there are certain events. We often eliminate the obligation to attend school. "

Ai Nurhidayat

Apart from being the center of activity, Kampung Nusantara is also a residence for students who come from various regions. This was done after the racial issue that had attacked schools. At that time, news circulated that SMK Bakti Karya Parigi was practicing Christianization because there were many students who embraced Christianity. From there, Kampung Nusantara, which was originally formed as protection, was transformed into one of the other excellent programs besides the Multicultural Class.

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With this attachment, local residents are not only teachers. They are substitute parents for the students. The beauty of the bond is reflected in the moment of graduation. Usually, in the graduation procession, students are accompanied by substitute parents. The sight of a hooded parent accompanying a child carrying a cross is not a strange sight there.

"When do we see different perspectives if we have never lived together, slept together, with people of different cultures, different ethnicities, different religions. That's why I seem to get answers to my anxiety since childhood. I used to really hate Christianity. Because I was taught to hate. I was not given a perspective to tolerate, for example, ethnic diversity, tattooed people, it's always a bad image. But after now meeting a variety of people. Finally it can be easier, empathize with different. "

Ai Nurhidayat

Education for all

One of the national figures who inspired Ai's involvement in education was Ki Hajar Dewantara. The Father of National Education influenced Ai a lot, especially regarding the manifestation of the essential spirit of independence, namely the freedom for a person to receive education. Education that was previously only owned by the elite, once independent, every Indonesian citizen has the right to education

"We have to say that this is the door to Indonesia's progress through education. Ki Hajar Dewantara was the one who pioneered it, the spirit of independence, not a spirit that discriminates against schools, discriminates against education. For example, a good school is because the teachers are good. Good teachers come at a premium. Then the location of the school is in the city, eventually the school becomes expensive. There are even international certificates of all kinds. Now, in the neighboring school, someone wants to go to school, so they can't enter. Because the tariff is expensive. "

Ai Nurhidayat

It is this discrimination that both Ai and Ki Hajar Dewantara have been opposing since a long time ago. The spirit of national independence is not far from all citizens are entitled to access to education, not the other way around. Therefore, education is once again threatened by intellectualism and materialism as is the case today. In the future, Ai is increasingly determined to present the spirit of free education for all.

Ki Hajar Dewantara (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

In the end, Ai realized her dream not to charge any fees from students who wanted to attend SMK Bakti Karya Parigi. As a result, even the poorest people can still participate and have the right to go to school. According to Ai, this spirit is the spirit of independence. Freedom must start from the head, free them from a narrow perspective, and free them from an unwise perspective.

Along with access to education for all, the nation's future generations will be born with a wise outlook. They also did not just interpret matters of divinity. Rather, they can also interpret humanity, unity, deliberation and social justice, according to the spirit of Pancasila.

Ai's struggle began to get recognition. Award for the sake of appreciation he received for perpetuating education for all while creating tolerance between ethnicities, races, cultures and religions. Most recently he received appreciation in the field of education from the 2019 One Indonesia Award.

Uniquely, this is in accordance with one of the seven points of Ki Hajar Dewantara's goal of establishing Taman Siswa. By Kenji Tsuchiya in the book Democracy and Leadership: The Awakening of the Student Garden Movement (1987), it is said that education for everyone is present in the last point.

“Education must be for everyone, not just a few people. If only the upper class gets education, the nation will not grow strong. Education must start from the bottom, its spread among those circles is what is most necessary so that the nation becomes more orderly and strong, ”wrote Kenji Tsuchiya.

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