“My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of
me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” –
Thomas Alva Edison
The above quotation
was said by Thomas Alva Edison after he was expelled
from his previous school just because his mind often wandered during the class.
His mother ensured him that it was not the end of the world that he could not
get the formal education. His mother believed that Edison was special. He was
an extraordinary person even he got terrible hearing problem not long after the
expelling moment. Thus, she home-schooled Edison until he succeeded in
inventing many new mass communication devices.
The story above is one of many inspiring stories that encourage
people to not stop studying. There are many chances to study even we cannot
gather with friends in formal schools. As what Thomas Alva Edison’s mother did,
Indonesian government has already created and legalized homeschooling since
2003. In Indonesia, homeschooling belongs to informal education. Yet, the
existence of homeschooling in Indonesia is assumed as rubbish; there is, but no
one wants to accept the qualifications. Most of formal schools in Indonesia
reject the applied certificate from homeschooling. It makes the homeschoolers
difficult to get higher education in formal schools. Indeed, the homeschoolers
are outstanding people. Therefore, government and formal schools should support
the existence of homeschooling.
The rejection of homeschooling certificate happens
because of the wrong mindset of Indonesian people nowadays about home-school
systems. Some people ruin the real definition of homeschooling and forget the basic
reason of why homeschooling was created. Definition of homeschooling, based on
Longman Dictionary and Contemporary English, is the activity of teaching
children at home instead of sending them to school. From that definition, some
people assume that teaching children at home is just because the children are
lazy to go to school. However, it is not like what most people think.
Homeschooling is a form of alternative education that been held at home because
the students are unable to study at school. The disabilities that make students
cannot attend the formal class are ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder), IQ more than 130, and other psychological problems.
What comes up on people’s minds when
they hear the word “homeschooling” is that it is always related to artist. It is
simply because there are some artists that take advantages from homeschooling.
Below is the quotation from Detik.com.
“Look at Ahmad Dhani’s children. They do
homeschooling because of they are artists and have no time to go to school. One
of them failed on national examination. Then he did homeschooling. They finally
pass the exam without studying and attending the classroom.” -- (detik.com).
What
we are discussing here is not what they are trying to prove. This mindset
should be changed because generally the idea of forming homeschooling is not for
being absent at class, but still having lessons though it is held at home. Since
it is held at home, parents are responsible for deciding the educational system.
Parents and children choose the curricula and it should be in line with what
formal schools’ implement. If the children have already mastered the subject,
parents can move forward to another subject. So, homeschooling is not a
“bypass” to pass the examination, but it is another way to get knowledge for specific
people. So, why still the formal schools reject the qualifications of
homeschooling?
Opponents
of this idea maintain that homeschooling belongs to informal education, and
informal education is a form of alternative education. So, whoever joins the
homeschooling are they who have low level of education, low on moral, and
cannot afford the tuition of formal schools. To a certain extent, they are
right. Informal education is an implementation of long life education. However,
whatever the condition of the students, the learning activities should go on.
This informal education also brings some benefit towards the students’
behavior. It is strengthened by Saleh Marsuki (2008: 136), “that almost all of
the systems are unorganized and systematized. However, it does not mean that it
becomes unimportant. Homeschooling builds the students’ characteristics and
behavior.”
Moreover,
it helps many children who cannot get proper education because of the financial
problems. Formal schools cannot help those people to have study fully unpaid.
On the other hand, in homeschooling, there is a form of free education for
those needy people. There are some home-schools which have the free service
education. As long as the slogan of education is “Education is Life Long. Life
Long Education is in Utility All of Life”, like what Prof. Drs. Soelaiman
Joesoef (2004:21) said, all people have rights to achieve knowledge. There are
no boundaries against people who want to study since very beginning. In
conclusion, informal is not a negative alternative.
The
last considerable statement on why formal schools should support the existence
of homeschooling is that the students are not ordinary students. They have
their own special ability. It will be very dangerous if there is a student, like
Edison, cannot have full attention during the class. It can be because of that
person has very high IQ or other psychological disorder. The possibility that
will happen is that he will bother other students otherwise the teacher will
not pay any attention towards that special student. The class will be not
satisfying. The early friends of mentally ill students are their own parents.
It is common if most homeschoolers often get achievements. It often happens
because they learn everything since very beginning and the subjects are
specifics.
The
existence of homeschooling in Indonesia is still not effective yet. It happens
because of some people make use of it, cannot afford the tuition of the formal
schools, and the various achievements of homeschooler. However the condition,
the existence of homeschooling has already helped many people who cannot enter
the formal schools. It is a better way than they cannot get study along their
life.
REFERENCES
Joesoef,
Soelaiman. 2004. Konsep Dasar Pendidikan Luar Sekolah. Jakarta: Bumi Arsar
Marsuki,
Saleh. 2008. Konsep Dasar Pendidikan Non Formal, in Dimensi-Dimensi Pendidikan
Nonformal. Waseso Guntur (Ed). Malang: FIP UM
Skager,
Rodney. 1978. Lifelong Education and Evaluation Practice. Hamburg: UNESCO
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