Yogyakarta- Ministry of National Education will put the concept of Education for Sustainable Development into formal, informal and non-formal educational institutions starting from year 2011. Education for Sustainable Development in Indonesia has been conducted through “healthy” and “green” schools. The educational model becomes reference for other countries, particularly in Asia-Pacific region.
“ESD concept should be conveyed from Early Childhood Education. All aspects about environmental education should be introduced,” said Minister of Education, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Nuh, opening Asia-Pacific Regional Center of Expertise (RCE) Conference at Graduate School, Wednesday (12/1).
In his opening speech, Mohammad Nuh said that human way to manage limited natural resources in earth such as water, land, and fossil energy has decreased environmental supporting power for present and future generations. The increasing number of people and modern lifestyle give serious threats for human sustainability on earth. Therefore, education is needed as a tool to transfer knowledge and wisdom between generations. “Implementing education which is harmonious with nature is Indonesia’s duty.,” he said.
Mohammad Nuh added that eco-friendly schools will have strong character to grow environmental values. “Character education fertilizes and nurtures honesty values,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Education, Prof. dr. Fasli Jalal, Ph.D., explained that ESD at least fulfills three main pillars such as economy, ecology/environment, and socio-culture. However, to realize these goals is not easy. The ministry commits to engraft sustainable development values on all formal education starting from kindergarten to higher education, informal and non-formal education. “Eco-friendly character education in educational institution can be transferred in family. In school level, it will be taught in every subject, whereas universities have applied research about green technology and invited community to implement eco-friendly education concept,” he said.
Director of UNESCO Jakarta, Hubert J. Gijzen, admitted that within four years before the deadline of ESD 2005-2015, developments achieved in many countries are different. “The most important thing is sharing experience because success story of sustainable education is different between countries. If there is a media to share experience, this success story can be imitated,” he said.
RCE Conference which presented 200 experts from 20 countries is expected to accelerate real action in sustainable development. “The conference discusses strategic steps involving education and community institutions. The most effective step is to change the paradigm through education and concept of green school good example,” he explained.
Indonesia ESD Coordinator and Organizer Chairman, Prof. Dr. Retno S. Sudibyo, M.Sc., Apt., said that the change should be done now. “Formerly, we were taught how to exploit nature. This is wrong. Now, we should teach how to utilize nature well, take but also keep its preservation,” she said.
For four days, 50 papers containing experience in ESD are conveyed. Besides, it will hold six panel discussions and three keynote speeches from UNESCO, UNU-IAS and Ministry of Education. The conference takes place in UGM which is the center of RCE in Indonesia.
In all over the world, there are 80 RCEs, 31 of them are in AsiaPacific region. By the end of 2015, it is expected that RCE number will reach 200. “With the more RCEs, they are expected to produce more experts conducting real actions for sustainable development,” said Hubert.