Progress in Hinterland Though

By: Sisilia Lepah.

I am Sisilia Lepah, a student at Mercu Buana University Yogyakarta, majoring in Accounting. Before studying in Yogyakarta, I lived in Mandula, a small village in Central Sulawesi province. When I continue my study at Yogyakarta, a student city, I felt very enthusiastic but inferior when I met other students who had more abilities than me. At the beginning of my college, I felt comfortable because most of the students at my former campus were from Sulawesi. However, I realized that I will not grow if I stay. Finally, I decided to transfer to another campus and meet various students, even though I had to work harder and compete with other students.

I faced difficult times that push me to give up because I saw everything was impossible. I felt sad and depressed because I used to blame my situation and underestimate myself. Then, I learned to open my mind and accept it, then focus on what I can. After I joined Stube HEMAT training about Education in Advanced Technology (May 20-22, 2022) I realized that I must change my way of thinking, eliminate mental blocking, and change daily habits which could not be transformed overnight, but it requires consistency to get better. In the era of the industrial revolution 4.0, people are required to, 1) have qualified skills to think critically and solve problems, 2) be creative and innovative, 3) be able to communicate and collaborate 4) be skilled in using information and technology media, 5) understand global citizenship, career and life skills 6) search, manage and convey information. Mastering the skills above is not easy but requires a sacrifice of time, energy, and mind to keep learning and practicing.

The skills requirements for young people in the advanced technology era is an interesting issue to campaign because it is closely related to the reality of education of this nation. Inequality in the quality of education in rural and urban areas, and the gap of internet access among islands in Indonesia is  a challenge to produce a good quality generation of the nation. Inequality in the quality of education is the impact of educational facilities, the quality of educational human resources, and the mindset of the local community, for example, people think no need for higher education, besides that there is a reality that young people spend their youth for fun, getting married in early age without having parenting skills and finally the quality of life is not improving. The quality of education is the key to human quality improvement, as evidenced by news from https: //www.goodnewsfromindonesia.id /2020/12/29/ about-index-development-human-di-indonesia-jakarta-highest-dan-who-lowest, about the Human Development Index (HDI) as an important indicator that measures success to improve the quality of human life as measured by age or healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Knowledge points are sourced from education. I, who comes from Central Sulawesi, found the data that shows my area is in rank 25 out of 34 provinces in Indonesia. This requires hard efforts to have a better human quality, especially in Central Sulawesi.

What can be done for future changes, especially in the education sector? In my opinion, it is very important to build awareness of the importance of education for opening new insights and forming a mindset. A good mindset will produce a good life too. Improving literacy in rural areas, such as my village, Mandula, by opening reading and literacy studios, routine reading activities at school, reading and games, opening school libraries, giving a book as a reward, forming reading and writing communities, and several other alternatives.

In this case, I have to complete my study well as my first step, especially in the midst of advanced technology, I could have a network to improve my abilities as a provision to do something in my area, even though in the hinterland my area should make progress. ***