Character Aducation at School, Is it Important???

In 2013 curriculum, it mentions character education. How is the real application of character education? Let’s try to discuss it.
Start with the question: ” Is character education needed?”. To answer this question, let’s take a look at some condition in our beloved country, Indonesia.
We often witness fighting phenomenon among students in many cities in Indonesia. Violences, pornograph and drugs use are very common in teenagers life. Even many young girls work in prostitution circle, and many more.
These apprehensive situations show the fail of education in Indonesia in embedding character education for the students.
Actually, family is the main basic foundation of character education, because the students spend most of their time with the family than at school. Therefore, teachers needs to coorporate with the parents to synchronous the education at school and at home.
Teachers and parents must be a good role for each students. Imagine when a teacher wants to embed a character about discipline but the teacher himself often comes late to class. When it happens, it’s impossible that the students will listen to that teacher’s advice because they have lost their trust.
What is character education? It’s an education that is given to prepare our students’ competence to face the real world. How to bring ourselvea in social life, how to speak politely, how to tolerate to other people, and so on and so forth.
As we know that academic achievement is important, but the ‘akhlak’ is more important.
When we talk about the real application of character education, the writer always refers to the character education in some elementary school in Japan. Every lunch time, the students get in line in the canteen and salute to the cook. After eating, they clean their own eating tools, then they mop the floor. Yes, mopping the floor in group. A real example of character education has been embedded since childhood. Character education consists of cognitive, affective, attitude and action.
Martin Luther King said that intelligence and character is the real goal of education.
The challenge, especially for teachers, is indeed hard. However, don’t be afraid to apply this character education in this era.
Character education is the key to build a humanistic country.

Lamongan, 27 September 2021

By Sandrina Rosi, S.Pd.