Ujung Tombak Youth Progress Minister Wihaji Masifkan Exemplary Father

The Minister of Education and Culture is proud, Wihaji (Doc. Kemenduk Proud)

JAKARTA - Youth as the next generation of the nation play an important role in building the future. They are the nation's hope, the spearhead of progress and agents of change.

This was stated by Dr. Wihaji, S.Ag, M.Pd, Minister of Population and Family Development (Menduk bangga)/BKKBN when opening the Reka Study ( Policy Recommendation Study) episode 1 Resilience and Health Reproduction Youth: call to action Indonesia's model father's movement for youth reproductive health policies', held at the Vasaka Hotel, Jakarta, Tuesday (29/04/2025).

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2023 shows that there are 44.25 million teenagers aged 10-19 years, and 64.16 million youths (16-30 years), or around 23.18% of the total population of Indonesia.

There are quite a lot of them. For this reason, proper care is needed for them. Including the involvement of the father in parenting. Departing from the issue of parenting by the father, Ministry of Population and Family Development (Kemendukbangga)/BKKBN initiated a breakthrough program called the Indonesian Exemplary Father Movement (GATI). The program is increasingly being massive by the minister of Wihaji.

GATI is one of 5 quick wins programs initiated by the Ministry of Education and Culture/BKKBN. In addition to GATI, there is the Foster Parent Movement to Prevent Stunting (Genting), Child Care Park (Tamasya), Empowered Elderly (Sedaya) and SuperApps about AI-based families.

GATI is here as an answer to the challenges of today's parenting. GATI is a collaborative movement that encourages fathers to be active in attending, engaging in parenting, assisting teenagers, and sharing domestic roles with their partners. This movement aims to restore the father's position as an example figure, protector, as well as a friend in growing and developing children," said minister Wihaji.

The Minister underlined that the role of the father is very important, especially for boys. "The communication approach between father and son is the time to meet, so the dominance of communication is with mothers," said the minister.

Meanwhile, dr. Fabiola Tazrina Tazir, MAPS, Director of Health Development for Reproduction of the Ministry of Education and Culture/BKKBN, at the meeting said, "The world has changed, the communication model has changed, we can focus on effective communication policies for teenagers."

"However", he continued, "We know there are modules, but whether the modules are still relevant or not." The Ministry of Education and Culture/BKKBN itself already has 1001 modules on how parents talk to teenagers. This module is not just a module but also equipped with a play card, pocket book and is a guide for youth family development (BKR) cadres.

"Update this book 'step by step'. And what is certain is to provide lessons for parents on how to build effective communication with children. But the weakness of this book, the child does not know how to respond, so there can be misscommunication," explained dr. Fabiola.

Last year, BKKBN also launched a new module of 1001 love and drama in the education package of parents and adolescents. "So that parents can communicate effectively with teenagers," explained Dr. Edi Setiawan, Director of Youth Resilience Development of the Ministry of Education and Culture/BKKBN, added.