Indonesia’s young generation has its own views on national heroes, which differ from those of previous generations. The national heroes, in their eyes, are not so much strugglers for independence, but people who fought for the truth and welfare.
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Kompas/Alif Ichwan
A resident gives his signature on a long white cloth displaying the photo of national heroes at the car free day area of Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle, Thamrin, Jakarta, Sunday (14/5). The event, organized by the Movement to Love the Nation and Pancasila, invites citizens to maintain the unity and diversity of Indonesia and emulate struggles of the heroes.
Indonesia’s young generation has its own views on national heroes, which differ from those of previous generations.
The national heroes, in their eyes, are not so much strugglers for independence, but people who fought for the truth and welfare.
That is the result of a poll by Kompas’ research and development section among senior high school and university students of 16 years and above in 11 cities of Indonesia.
The result of the poll is not too surprising. Noteworthy, however, is the fact that most of the students were unable to name 10 national heroes within one minute. Even most of those who were able to mention a number of national heroes failed to explain wherein their heroism lay.
Ironically, the students had no problems mentioning superheroes like Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Black Panther, Thor, Quicksilver or Green Lantern and mythical heroes like Hercules.
Of course, there must be something wrong with our education if students do not know the names or achievements of the heroes of their own nation. In reality, the national heroes contributed greatly to the establishment of this nation.
The problem can be traced back to history schoolbooks that resort to simple rote-learning methodology void of appealing presentation to teach students about the national heroes. The history books fail to connect the roles of the heroes with present conditions, so the students cannot grasp the relevance of the heroic struggles for the nation as it stands today. They cannot comprehend that the comfortable conditions we live in today could not be enjoyed without the efforts of these national heroes.
This situation is exacerbated by the typically monotonous and boring way history lessons are taught in the classroom. Nationwide, there were no fewer than 21,212 social science teachers, which includes history teachers, among the 681,422 teachers and headmasters at the junior high school level in 2015/2016, according to data from the Education and Culture Ministry. Such an excessive number of teachers should actually have them compete with one another to improve their quality and develop novel teaching methods.
Many things need to be realigned to improve comprehension among the young generation of the history of their nation and the struggles of the heroes. We need to appreciate the efforts of filmmakers and game creators who try to introduce national heroes in creative ways. On the other hand, however, it is time to assess teaching methods at school, so that the young generation does not idolize fabricated superheroes while forgetting about the real heroes of their very own nation.
