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 fire 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.