Character education is now indeed the main issue of education. As part of children moral formation, character education is also expected to be the major foundation in the framework of the nation’s intellectual life. Therefore, instilling the values of character education to students is considered very important in addition to teaching cognitive aspects.
This was revealed in the opening of Character Education Management Development Training for 35 teachers who are representatives of RSBI vocational schools on Thursday (18/11). The training was held in collaboration between LPPM UGM and Department of Youth Education and Sports in the province of Yogyakarta Special Region.
This was stated by Chairman of the Council of Professors of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Prof. Drs. Suryo Guritno, M.Stats., Ph.D., opening the Coordination Meeting of Councils of Professors of six State-Owned Legal Entities, Thursday (11/3), at UGM Senate Hall. He said that as part of the national power, that challenge is also the challenge for Indonesian universities. "The challenge is to prepare the character of human resources to become competitive in dealing with cultural developments that know no limits," he explained.
Suwarsih said that the development of green schools in the future will be directed more to educate the students to love the environment more by inviting students to make more beautiful and green school's physical environment. "At least the students are more aware of the environment and culture through a cleaner, healthier, and greener school environment," she said.
According to Suwarsih, the RSBI schools pilot project is expected to inspire other schools to not only pursuing the target of the number of graduates, but also to establish the character of students to care about their environment. "So far, many schools have only developed the theory of science, but not providing insight to the impact of behavior and insight toward their own environment," she concluded.
The training will be held for 4 days from 25-28 October 2010. The material that will be delivered, among others: environmental management, green school model planning, green waste management, and cultivation techniques of trees. Participants will also be invited to review and study the environment that has gone green, such as UGM. At the end of the training, participants are invited to participate in field studies in the village of Hargotirto, Kokap, Kulon Progo regency, which is the village developed by SIKIB (Solidarity of the Wives of Members of United Indonesia Cabinet) and LPPM UGM.