Polikarpus Do, Rescuing School Dropouts

KOMPAS/ESTER LINCE NAPITUPULU

Polikarpus Do

From 2013 until today, Polikarpus Do, 36, has regularly visited areas where dropouts live in the city of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. Whenever and wherever he sees children at work during school hours, he invites them to come study for free at the Bintang Flobamora Community Learning Center (PKBM).

Even though Polikarpus extended his invitation with good intentions, it was not necessarily welcome. In fact, he sometimes had to deal with the anger of the dropouts’ parents, who didn’t want their children to stop making a living for the family.

For example, Polikarpus spontaneously approached two children he saw selling at a Kupang market. He spoke with the children, who later told him their life stories and why they were selling vegetables. They said they dropped out from the third and fourth grades. Their older sister was forced to drop out from junior high school because she had become pregnant, and she was now taking care of her baby. They lived in a boarding house measuring 3-by-3 meters with their mother and stepfather.

Polikarpus was saddened to hear the story of the two children, who had to go out every day and sell vegetables. If they did not sell all their vegetables, they were not allowed back home. Their mother frequently beat the children.

He visited the children’s house to ask their parents to allow them to study at the Community Learning Center (PKBM). “However, the stepfather challenged me. If the children stopped selling vegetables because of school, the family could not eat,” said Polikarpus, who then explained that the children could arrange the time to sell vegetables while attending the PKBM.

Polikarpus realized from the start that determination and dedication was not enough to help the dropouts. “The thing is, we have to be a little reckless,” he said.

Although his own income was limited as an English instructor, Polikarpus felt that helping the dropouts was a calling from God. He hopes the children can get a better life in the future.

For Polikarpus, inviting those who had dropped out of school to join the PKBM, whether they were children or adults, was not just about arming them with knowledge and skills. “We must also look after their life problems [and] help find a solution, so they would remain keen about completing their education at the PKBM. As their trust grows, more and more people who have dropped out of school are now attending the PKBM,” he said.

Polikarpus never tires of encourage his “students”, which currently number 430. The records at PKBM Bintang Flobamora, which he founded, show that more than 1,300 students graduated from 2013 to 2017. The alumni, who now work as shop employees, security guards, lecturers and Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) members, eagerly accepted Polikarpus’s invitation to share their success stories with the

center’s students. Thus, the students felt encouraged to follow in the footsteps of their successful seniors.

At the PKBM, school dropouts can take the curricular equivalents of elementary school (Package A), junior high school (Package B) or senior high school (Package C). In addition, they also take English language and computer courses, as well as writing workshops.

According to Polikarpus, many dropouts initially declined the invitation to attend the PKBM because they were worried about school fees and tuition. Most had dropped out of school due to financial problems, while others dropped out of school because they married young, came from broken families or other social problems.

In debt

For Polikarpus, offering the dropouts an opportunity to come back to school was like realizing his childhood dream of sharing his knowledge with the poor. He personally experienced being unable to take English classes in his village because his parents were poor farmers.

Polikarpus decided to pursue his education at a seminary in Makassar that offered free schooling so he could ease the burden on his parents, who were supporting six children. Mastering English at the seminary, Polikarpus returned to Kupang municipality and worked as an English tutor from 2007 to 2012.

Observing the local community’s keen interest in learning English, Polikarpus set up the Mandira English course in a rented house, which attracted many students from poor families.

Polikarpus also taught at the East Nusa Tenggara Non-formal and Informal Education technical unit as an English language instructor. There he learned about the PKBM’s Package A, B, C school equivalency courses. He saw many youths from Kupang regency who had dropped out of school and had come to Kupang municipality seeking work at markets or as construction workers. In 2013, he thought about establishing his own PKBM.

Although he had very limited income as an English language instructor, Polikarpus was determined to establish a PKBM – PKBM Bintang Flobamora, which takes its name from an acronym derived from the Flores, Sumba, Timor and Alor regions of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) – as a model to help dropouts finish their basic education. He managed to get seven volunteer instructors who were willing to teach at a minimum salary. He invited more than 50 dropouts to attend the PKBM for free.

To purchase a computer and continue running the PKBM, which was growing in demand among dropouts, Polikarpus took out a loan using his motorcycle as collateral. In 2013-2015, the PKBM’s operational costs were funded independently from the mediocre income it made from its English language classes.

“I was almost desperate. The decision to help the dropouts turned out to be extremely difficult because of debt,” said Polikarpus.

His determination to help the dropouts in NTT, especially in Kupang, began to attract the government’s attention. The PKBM he had established was deemed to be performing well, so it was given B-level accreditation. In 2016, the Education and Culture Ministry provided infrastructure as well as operational assistance through its directorate of equal education development.

Polikarpus’s heart bleeds every time he sees someone who has dropped out of school. He continued to approach them to invite them to attend PKBM Bintang Flobamora. He was happy to see the many children who had lost hope obtain a diploma that could be used to apply to universities or to find employment.

He is now making efforts to buy land and build facilities to house his PKBM, as he currently rents the property where it operates. Polikarpus also dreams of opening more training courses at PKBM Bintang Flobamora to arm its learners with essential skills.

Polikarpus Do

Born: Marameku-Ende, May 18, 1982

Wife: Nurliyanci Noti, 38

Children: Maria Jesicca Do Tenga, 11; Yohanes Frederikus Do Tenga, 10

Education:

- Kupang Open University (2009)

- CICM Seminary, Makassar, South Sulawesi (2005)

- SMA Katolik St. Petrus Ende senior high school (2003)

- SMP Katolik Maria Goreti Ende junior high school (1999)

- SD Katolik St Yoseph Kamubheka elementary school (1996)