SCHOOL OF PAPUA
I need to know everything about the
world I live in.
I know everything about my environment.
The sea, the fish, how to catch the fish.
I followed my mother to our agricultural
land.
I know what to grow, how to
nurture the plants.
I followed her and I was happy.
So what was so hard? I came back from
school.
I didn't have to do homework.
Teachers who lived in colonial times, we
had a different approach to teaching.
How to teach kids to write and read – it's
quite different from how they do it now.
Now they mostly do it by forcing the
pupils.
Why do we have to give homework to the
children?
We have to provide them time to play. So
they have time to play, and sleep well
without heavy burdens on their shoulders.
Otherwise, even when they want to play,
they remember they have homework.
They ask their mothers but they don't
understand.
They ask their brothers, and it's nearly
dark
and tomorrow the homework is due.
So, there's a limitation to the world they
need to build because of homework.
Too much fear results in stupidity.
Too much fear results in weak thinking.
Because some kids can only see to
understand.
Others hear to understand.
And other kids do it and understand.
There are many things that we need to
comprehend in this case.
They may be looking outside but they are
still listening.
Now, they trap students inside buildings.
Then, the teachers become angry
shouting, "What are you looking at?"
We are just wasting time by interjecting.
In class we have very limited time.
Now we have this "superior class".
So we separate kids by those who learn
fast and those who don’t.
The ones who already know a bit –
let other teachers teach them.
So, we don't simply teach, but consider
all aspects.
And for coaching, the teacher needs to
really get close to the kids. Hold their hands.
We can come and write something down
and ask students to repeat this by
themselves.
In several meetings with parents, I said,
“You are limiting these kids just because
of an issue with uniforms”.
“If their uniforms are wet, they can just come
in T-shirts. If their shoes get stolen or broken,
send them in sandals or even barefoot.”
“The important thing is that the child has the
eagerness to study.”
If we compare the era of Dutch
colonisation to today, there is a big
difference.
The colonialists didn't just build schools,
they started by doing research,
in the coastal areas, mountains, valleys,
upstream.
After that, they decided on the kind of
education model to use.
They created readings where the stories
were all based on local stories,
so the readings for children were based
on the places where they've been living
from youth to maturity.
The children understood these stories
because they knew them.
They have pigs, they have fire on their
farmland and in their houses. On the beach
they usually use it to cook fish.
If you look at how they build schools now,
it's too restrictive and traps kids so they
can't freely enjoy the scenery,
the environment, which was created by
God.
In the old days, they built school walls
only as high as a small child's shoulders.
So we can see birds fly, clouds, rain, so
it reduces the boredom of the lesson.
In my school years, a day must be filled
with singing and drawing. Usually in the
late hours we will sing.
So this learning was based on stimulating
ideas. We discussed things by drawing them.
The reason I say this is a Papuan school
built in Indonesia is because the majority
of students here are Papuans.
There are some differences in the way
that Papuans and non-Papuans respond
to lessons.
If we teach one plus one, immediately the
non-Papuan kids will have the answer two.
But the Papuan will examine this lesson
carefully.
One plus one, why does it become two?
That's not because they are stupid.
No. But because they are very thorough.
That's why the Dutch teachers would not
mix the Papuan kids with non-Papuans in
one classroom.
It's not discrimination, no.
But if you put the Papuan kids with
Indonesian kids in one class, the
Indonesians will surpass them.
Indonesian parents will support their kids
to learn at home.
But the Papuans, even if their parents are
high-ranking officials, they are not used to
teaching their kids at home.
So, for the teachers this is a big burden.
That's why the Papuan kids need more time
and a slower pace. It's not because they
are stupid.
But it's like clapping with one hand, it doesn't
make a sound.
But if parents and teachers are committed
together, they can clap with two hands.
It will work and benefit the children.