Putri Ariani Can Be a Promoter for Inclusivity Awareness in Various Sectors

Putri Ariani when received by President Jokowi at the State Palace after getting the golden buzzer at the America's Got Talent event. (Instagram/@jokowi)

JAKARTA - Putri Ariani's appearance at America's Got Talent (AGT) 2023 has garnered a lot of attention, both from the domestic and foreign media. You see, she got a golden buzzer from the AGT judge, Simon Cowell, who is known to be critical.

Her own songs, Loneliness, and Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word which were popularized by Elton John were greeted with standing applause from all the supporters present at the studio.

"I think we all feel the same way," Simon said, looking at the other three judges. “You know, you're 17, you write songs, you have an amazing, distinctive voice. And I mean, really good,” continued Simon.

Putri Ariani and Simon Cowell. (Daily Mail)

The judge who was born in London, England, then pressed the Golden Buzzer button which led Princess Ariano to immediately enter the semifinals of AGT 2023.

What has made Putri Ariani's success so far capture the attention of the country is not only because she is from Indonesia, but also because this girl who was born on December 31, 2005, is blind.

The Importance of Inclusive Education

Blind people or people with disabilities as a whole are often underestimated in society. They are seen as a group that is weak, helpless and needs to be pitied. For this reason, many rights of persons with disabilities are ignored, starting from the right to access education and health services to the ease of obtaining public facilities.

In fact, the rights of persons with disabilities are regulated in Law Number 19 of 2001, starting from the right to be free from torture, harsh, inhuman, and degrading treatment to the right to be free from exploitation, violence, and arbitrary treatment.

As mentioned in 1 Law Number 18 of 2016, persons with disabilities are any person who experiences physical, intellectual, mental, or sensory limitations for a long time and who interacts with the environment and may experience obstacles and difficulties to participate fully and effectively with other citizens based on their rights.

Equal rights between disabilities and non-disabilities are actually difficult to find in real life, where we still often see discrimination against persons with disabilities. One sector that is prone to discrimination is education.

This can be seen from the many parents who have difficulty finding educational facilities that are inclusive or do not differentiate between persons with disabilities and non-disabilities. Even a few years ago, the National Selection System for State University Entrance (SNMPTN) explicitly stated that the requirements for participating in SNMPTN were that prospective students were not blind, deaf, mute, and color blind.

Indonesian Ambassador to the US Rosan Perkasa Roeslani when meeting Putri Ariani. (Antara)

The government has issued a policy regarding inclusive education for persons with disabilities which is regulated in Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System. In addition, the Minister of Education and Culture has also issued Minister of National Education Regulation (Permen) Number 70 of 2009 concerning Inclusive Education for Students with Disabilities and Potential Intelligence and or Special Talents.

Inclusive education is an education service system that provides opportunities for persons with disabilities to attend public schools and regular classes with their peers. Through inclusive education, students can learn together with accessibility which will enable them to learn together with accessibility that supports everyone.

However, in practice, the implementation of inclusive education still has many obstacles, not only in Indonesia. In England, for example, Richard Riese (2000) in his essay Special Educational Needs or Inclusive Education: The Challenge of Disability Discrimination in Schooling reveals that one of the obstacles to implementing inclusive education is an environment that is not friendly and makes it difficult for children with disabilities to carry out the learning process.

What happened to Putri Ariani in AGT 2023 is a form of equal rights for persons with disabilities and non-disabilities. Thanks to her golden voice, the eldest daughter of the couple Ismawan Kurnianto and Ren Alfianty managed to get the chance to appear at a prestigious talent search event in the United States.

National lifter for women with disabilities, Ni Nengah Widiasih. (Antara)

The government also provides full support to Putri Ariani, through the Indonesian Ambassador to the United States (US), who is also Deputy Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Rosan Perkasa Roeslani.

"Putri, my message is to focus on singing and not to think about anything. The main thing is to sing well," said Rosan quoted by Antara.

Armed with her achievements in the world of singing, Putri Arian is now one step closer to realizing her dream of continuing her education at an art school in New York, United States, the Juilliard School.

"My dream is to become the biggest diva in the world like Whitney Houston and win a Grammy award," said Putri.

Towards Disability Friendly in All Sectors

Indonesia being a disability-friendly country is still far from ideal. But the issues that raise the equality of people with disabilities have continued to echo in recent years.

When Solo hosted the 2022 ASEAN Para Games, for example, Indonesia carried the tagline Striving for Equality or Fighting for Equality. Indonesia's decision to host APG 2022 was suddenly appreciated by athletes with disabilities. This is seen as a form of Indonesia's seriousness in paying attention to athletes with disabilities, after Vietnam declared its withdrawal as host.

"This shows that the government really supports athletes with disabilities, and the appreciation we are getting now is the same as non-disabled athletes," said weight lifter Ni Nengah Widiasih.

This is not the first time Indonesia has hosted an international sporting event for persons with disabilities. In 2018, Indonesia also successfully held the Asian Para Games shortly after the Asian Games. While Solo is hosting the ASEAN Para Games for the second time after the first time in 2011.

Recently, the Indonesian Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) also expressed hope that all polling stations (TPS) in the country are friendly to persons with disabilities.

The Chief Executive (Plh) of the RI Bawaslu Chair, Lolly Suhenty. (Antara)

"Our hope is that (the 2024 election) there will be no more polling stations that are not disability-friendly," said the Daily Executive (Plh) of the RI Bawaslu Chair, Lolly Suhenty.

In the 2019 election, Lolly revealed that his party recorded 2,366 polling stations that were inaccessible to persons with disabilities. However, this number was reduced to 1,089 TPS in the 2020 Pilkasa.

With the success of Putri Ariani and other persons with disabilities in various sectors, we hope that public awareness about inclusivity will continue to expand. The awareness that all people have the same rights, from the right to education to political rights.