Martinus Basuki Sugito: Explaining corruption to schoolchildren
The Jakarta Post (People), Thursday, September 7, 2006
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Kudus, Central Java
Indonesia’s ranking as the world’s third-most corrupt country worries Basuki Sugito, the principal of Keluarga Junior High School (SMPK) in Kudus, Central Java.
Though President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has pledged to strengthen the war on corruption, Basuki says individuals need to act in the interim.
“As an experienced teacher, I think it’s possible to teach children about corruption from an early age,” Basuki told The Jakarta Post last week.
He became interested in anticorruption education after reading a review of Teaching Integrity to Youth: Examples from 10 Countries, which is published by Transparency International.
The book asks whether Indonesian teachers had the spirit to introduce anticorruption education in schools.
It refers to Cambodia, where anticorruption education was brought in after decades of war.
According to Basuki, a graduate of the Yogyakarta-based Sanata Dharma Pedagogic and Teacher Training Institute, corruption grows out of dishonesty. To eliminate corruption, he said, students should be taught the importance of honesty.
The school he teaches at, which is owned by the Kanisius Foundation in Kaliputu, Kudus, had never focused on teaching students about ethics.
“In 2004, the school’s only extracurricular subject was called ‘familiarization’ because it taught students about school protocol and ceremonies. It was a subject that could also include anticorruption education, which, in my view, is more useful.”
He said it took courage to teach students about corruption. The outcome may only be seen after 10 or 15 years, but at least the seeds of corruption, illegal activity and dishonesty are never cultivated.
Anticorruption education was introduced to the SMPK students on Dec.19, 2005. The idea had been in the works long before the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) aired its community service announcements targeting students on TV.
“We hope students will come to realize that dishonesty, insensitivity and antisocial behavior can ruin things for everybody — in a broader context, the interests of the nation and the state,” he said.
Once in two months, the school invites officials and other influential figures to lecture on the subject.
“In this way, students will be more open in their attitudes toward corruption,” said Basuki, also a local journalist, whose article about anticorruption education was published in Central Java’s largest daily Suara Merdeka on March 28, 2005.
The next day, the article was also published in one of Indonesia’s leading newspapers, Kompas.
But his colleagues began to worry he might be making enemies.
“A teacher at my school, who had just returned from a conference, told me they’d discussed my move and warned me against involving students in the fight against corruption. It is this fear that I wish to dispel by inviting all teachers to join me,” he said.
Basuki said anticorruption education covered the substance of instruction, the method and the indicators of achievement.
Students are taught to recognize forms of corruption that might be committed by students, teachers or administrative staff.
“For instance, there is the practice of ’stealing’ time by being late for school, besides cheating in tests, embezzling funds and the like,” he said.
The subject is taught for 40 minutes once a week.
Students’ response has been positive.
“I like it, at least we’re now aware of what corruption is and how to act honestly,” said second-year student Angela Natasya.
In April, Kudus Regent Tamzil visited the school.
“We discussed a lot of things with the regent. It was interesting. I know from newspaper reports that the regent himself is allegedly involved, but that’s only what the papers say,” said Deandy, another student.
Anticorruption fever has spread among the school’s 169 students.
“We know that plagiarism is a form of corruption, just like embezzling school funds,” Kily said.
Childhood games like Central Java’s popular gobak sodor are used as teaching aids.
Originally relying on physical agility, the name of the game loosely translates as “go back through the door.”
“I chose slim students to be dressed in police uniform as guards to watch over an entrance gate. The bigger students wore giant masks, pretending to be embezzlers. The giants found it very easy to push past the weaker guards,” Basuki said.
From this game, the students learned that the fight against corruption must be strengthened, if the practice is ever to be stopped.
The SMPK runs an “Honesty Shop”, which sells everything from stationery to food. There are no shop assistants there.
The school fully trusts its students. Those who want to buy something simply take it and leave the money in a box, counting out their change themselves.
Basuki’s achievements have been recognized by a group of lecturers from Soegijapranata Catholic University in Semarang, who invited him to give a lecture.
The group set up an anticorruption education unit on December 20, 2005.
“We also ran a workshop, which was attended by 45 teachers from 15 Junior High Schools (SMP) in Semarang, Ambarawa and Salatiga (all in Central Java),” said Theodorus Sudimin, one of the group’s lecturers.
The teachers agreed anticorruption education should be incorporated into the guidance counseling provided at each school.
“It is most difficult to apply this subject at state-owned junior highs, because they have to follow the curriculum determined by the education department, whereas private schools are independent. The best example in this case is SMPK-Kudus,” said lecturer Bernadette Tyas Susanti.
Basuki is excited by the support he has been receiving. “It’s a step forward. If I act alone, I can only reach so many students.”
