TO CHOOSE THE AWARE LEADER OF LITERACY INVESTATION

English Version of Memilih Pemimpin Yang Melek Investasi Literasi

            On upcoming June 2018, the people of Serang City will choose their new leader for the next five years. The candidates of candidates have already competed to gain the sympathy through many ways. Some were performing blusukan (to visit the community places in Javanese language), campaigning the special programs, while another build a solid success team, spread the brochures, billboards, and banners of their half figure smiling with the excessive confident in several streets. 

    

            Today, the Major of Serang City still have another one year and few months of official terms to contribute to the city development. Few changes happened or even there were otherwise. However, City Government published through its website the ’16 Achievements and Awards’ given from Center Government during 2012-2016 period. They are: The Award of Rice Growth Up to 5% in year 2012, The Award of Commitment and Success of the Management of Identity Card Implementation Service in year 2012, The First Winner of National ‘Blue Sky’ Program for Little / Medium City Category of Emission Gas given from Environmental Agency in year 2013, The Award of the Appreciation of Islamic Education in year 2014, The Award of Blue Sky of the Evaluation Assessment of City Air Quality given from Ministry of Environment and Forestry in year 2015 and the others that can be accessed via official website of Serang City.

            The Major of Serang City could feel satisfied for the awards and be glad for the performance results, but still, the real acknowledgement of the leader capacity comes from the people’s judgment. The benchmark of real award of it in either a city or a region leadership bases on the people satisfaction. Did through those achieved awards, the community of Serang City’s prosperity escalate? It seems there are still too much criticism and complains from any circles. They complain about traffic jam, increased unemployment, untargeted infrastructure, corruption, education, poverty, and the others.

            The next local leader election, the people of Serang City undoubtedly wouldn’t want to jump from the frying-pan into the fire. It is just what fools always do. They, as the human gifted with a mind, must be able to evaluate the previous mistakes, to list out the wrong paths and leave them, to pick the right path and pass them. Accordingly, to choose the aware leader of the previous wrong paths must be the solution for them. On top of that, to choose the leader who understand the cause of major problems is what they need.

To Understand the Dominant Cause of Problems

            The trouble always exists. Like what John Green says on his book An Abundance of Katherines, “Do you know what the problem is? You can’t live with the idea that someone might leave.” It has been the natural law that problem won’t be disappear in any way. When we solve it, the other comes. If we draw it into an analogy, it seems like the pimple. We squeeze it out and instead of going away; it appears on the other part of face. Then what raising a question is, how do we solve our beloved city problems if the natural law is the way it is?

            First, we need to understand in advance where actually the root of these problems comes. Is it poverty, infrastructure, field of job, criminal, corruption, morality, or education? If we think thoroughly, every problem has its own cause, but it might correlate among others. Those couple of problems has more or less the same cause. The cause that is if we have known already the triggers, we would have prevented the blow.

            Do you still remember the phenomenal Jakarta Governor Election a couple months ago? It is dubbed massively as well as President Election sensation. Every single media highlights the details of it. Many political motives reputedly are at stake on this ‘contest’. However, we are not going to discuss these sensational stories of it. The winner, Anis Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno, had formulated the catchy motto, ‘Making Developed City for the Happier People’, which had become their prominent campaign and vision altogether to develop Jakarta. From a small discussion, Anies and his friends feel the surge of anxiety into what happen in Jakarta. They see the significance infrastructure built intensively, but not with its people. The people are left behind from the buildings that grow bigger and bigger.

            The plan of former Minister of Culture and Education tends to elevate and optimize the human resource. The human is the main asset of developing Jakarta upon next five years. It is the right step, since several problem factors in Jakarta could be overcome with the investment of education and skill sectors, either in formal or non-formal. One of obvious examples is, OKE OCE Program (One District, One Center Entrepreneurship) that initiated by Anies and Sandi to represent non-formal education sector and be a one step forward to reduce the jobless and poverty rates. Two problems are solved with one idea

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            On the other side, there is a crucial point of the concept that people incline to forget. In development of city, the great infrastructure is a necessity to facilitate economy and social ecosystem. It effects on the increasing people prosperity. On the contrary, however better the facilitation and infrastructure are, they don’t work optimally in case of people couldn’t maintain them. With that consciousness, we would save up the repair budgets that shouldn’t have used in early repair. A collective consciousness of sense of belonging, maintaining and looking after would be obtained through education sector.

  

            The education sector would also prevent the criminal and intolerant rates that produced by the massive hoax recently. It is sure enough because hoax a man could be beaten into pulp for being alleged as children abductor syndicate. Don’t also be surprised, because of hoax, the brotherhood of among tribes that has been strong already; tear apart to never stop hating. To prioritize education sector, the unwanted chaos not only could be prevented, but also stopped.

  

            To sum up from some cases above, the main cause of problems normally begin from the men. To review it inductively, they all begin from the low quality level of education, either formally or non-formally. It is obviously the surface of our human resource. It’s no wonder that why the same problem upon problem happens and the government cleans the mess over and over.

  

            The main cause of problem faced Jakarta and Serang City is in fact not much different. The people with low education quality would raise the avoidable problems. With increasing it, the prosperity and progress are not the impossible things. So now, what does the compatible education fit to Serang City?

 

Literacy City

Literacy Investment

The education doesn’t yet overcome the problems properly. Notably, the education system to use is obsolete. It wouldn’t help solve the main cause of problem of the city, if it remains not to understand what is precarious to execute currently. Several educational scholars and observers still manifest the same thought from year to year constantly; the facilitation and cost of school that is not adequate in particular regions. It is not wrong however, but it doesn’t hit yet the necessary education presently.

According to the "Most Littered Nation In the World" study performed by Central Connecticut State Univesity in past 2016, Indonesia is stated to rank in 60 out of 61 countries about the reading interest. It is right below Thailand (59) and above Bostwana (61). According to UNESCO data, its reading interest is 0.001%, which means from 1,000 people, only one who is diligent to read. This represents the urgency to hit and reach by our education system. Our education system should have reached the fundamental problems and reading is the thing; reading is the foundation of education world. How come the essence of education goal reached, if the foundation is not learned?

Speaking of reading interest means we directly talk about literacy. Literacy by National Institute for Literacy is “the individual ability to read, write, speak, count, and solve a problem on level of skill that is necessity of work, family, and people”. Reading is one of literacy activities and it is the prime part of literacy world.

            The broad meaning of literacy covers in various life dimensions. A few correlates among others, such as dimension of geography, field, skill, function, media, and country. These seven show the importance of literacy in life. 

     

            Even though the data above reflects the national condition, the number 0.001% seems fit enough to represent the condition of Serang City people either. The morality crisis, poverty, jam, crime, dropout of school, and unemployment happen to Serang City and ironically it begins from the fact of the low reading interest of the people. Conversely if one increases the reading interest, the literacy ability will increase either. With the high literacy provision, Serang City people independently overcome their problems and they would reach the hope of ‘Serang Madani’ as dreamt of. 

   

            The fact of literacy that affects positive changes massively is supposed to be applied upon the people of Serang City until becoming the great cultivation each times. Imagine if it is run in Serang City, sort of professions such as street vendor, motorcycle cab, Pedi cab driver, labor, and coolie that typically are far from books would love to read. The practiced people of literacy culture would solely find the solution of the problems that happen around.

            Unfortunately, The Government of Serang City has not been aware yet of the crucial literacy culture. It is reflected from Regional Government Budget (APBD) of Serang City 2016. Either the direct budget or indirect budget is mostly used for employee expenditure. The budget of grant expenditure and social assistance that might facilitate the literacy activities are only 1.88% of the budget total and its portion moreover is divided to another sectors. To emphasize for the second time, it definitely describes that The Government of Serang City has not aware of the priority of literacy culture yet. They have not been aware yet of literacy investment.

  

To Realize the Literacy Culture

             The data of minimal of reading interest is not completely true. It is criticized by an article of Marlistiya Citaningrum: ‘Who Say the Reading Interest of Indonesian is Low?’ It is based on the anxiety of when she saw the crowded visitors of the Great Book Fair Big Bad Wolf held in Jakarta. That study of reading interest was titled “World’s Most Literate Nation”. Literate itself means ‘able to read’ (and write). To cite from it, it didn’t really study about the reading interest, because the ability of reading doesn’t entirely imply the love (interest) of reading. Meanwhile, the variables used in this study are the accomplishment of literacy (the ability of read) and the variable that represents the examples of reading behavior (literacy). The variables that Central Connecticut State Univesity used are being categorized by themself and it is taken from the data that is available publicly, such as UNESCO and PBB. So they didn’t conduct the survey to ask into some correspondents about the reading interest. They categorize these variables into five categories: Library, Newspaper, Education System— Input, Education System— Output, and Computer Availability. This fact subsequently would conclude the literacy culture of Indonesia whether it is high or low.

  

            From the article, a con and pro discussion raised by netizen on the commentary column lead to the result of the less facilitation of the activity and culture of literacy that is the point of the low reading interest. Serang City has only two libraries and less Gardens of Community Reading. The City Library is located in uptown and so is coincidencally The Province Library. These don’t reach the remote people such as Kasemen, Walantaka, and Curug. The Gardens of Community Reading are also not placed equally in every villages and real estates.

        

            Even though lack of facilitation, the literacy activities is quite lively nowadays because the appearance of literacy activists that creatively encourage and stimulate the reading interest of people of Serang City. One of them is the literacy community called ‘Literacy Motorcycle’. They ride motorcycle, roll out the mat and then they put the book on it. They trip from a place to place.

       

            The awareness and role of government is needed in this case because relying on those activists is hardly enough. Serang City needs the big force and cost to realize this literacy culture. The Government can commence a one simple step with modeling what Little Free Library do in Wiconsin. This Non-Profit Company made a kind of library box or mini box library on almost every corners of the town. The idea of the box that is fulfilled by books and elaborated with beautiful decoration had attracted the enthusiasm and gain the reading interest of people around. The Government can realize it with creating the similar boxes upon each Rukun Tetangga in Serang City. A next simple step is to teach the reading lesson intensively into illiterate people that dominated by men and women age 40 and up. With these two simple steps, the literacy culture realization is not impossible thing to do.

   

            The next future leader of Serang City and its people must understand how urgent the investment of literacy is. People also have the role to decide the progression or regression of their city into five years ahead. Accordingly, they are supposed to be aware and thoroughly learn the profile and program of leader candidates of next Serang City Major Election. It is the time to choose the leader who understands completely the main cause of occur problems. It is the time to choose the aware leader of literacy investment.