Education is a long-term process to produce cultural resilience, through a harmonious system between schools, families, and communities. This was stated by the head of the West Java Provincial Development Planning Agency (BAPPEDA Jabar), Deni Juanda Suradimaja, during the opening of the 2009 National Seminar and Workshop on National Character Development on Tuesday (28/7) in the seminar room on the 4th floor of Widyatama University.
With the theme “Reactualization and Reorientation of Learning Materials and Methods for Personality Development Courses in an Effort to Increase National Competitiveness,” this event was attended by academics consisting of lecturers and teaching staff, particularly those teaching courses on religion, citizenship, and Pancasila. Currently, courses related to personality and mental-spiritual development are perceived as less appealing to students. Moreover, the current learning system tends to prioritize subjects of an extroverted nature.
As is often the case in public secondary schools, students are more focused on subjects that are tested in national exams, so they tend to neglect subjects that develop soft skills, such as religion and moral development. At the university level, these courses are only offered with a relatively small number of credits compared to other courses, even though they form the basis for character building and soft skills, which have recently been the subject of much complaint, especially from employers in industry.
The seminar, organized by the Widyatama General Education Department (BPDU) and chaired by Ase Suryana, was held for three days from July 28 to 30, 2009. Speakers included Abdul Halim Hakim, Coordinator of Kopertis Region IV West Java and Banten; Siprento ML, Director General of Pothan, Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia; and Jaih Mubarok, representative of the Supreme Court.
