Kusumanegara-Jogja Kembali: Spirit to Greet Nusantara

Friday August 16th 2024

The 79th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia was celebrated unusually by the Al Azhar 55 Yogyakarta family. All members welcomed this big day a week before through various classroom activities.

Grade 1 students colored pictures of national heroes and wrote font tracing of the hero’s name. Grade 2 made a papercrati of people celebrating Independence Day. Grade 3 cratied school decorations about the 79th Independence Day and the Indonesian flag. Grade 4 created a biography of a hero. Grade 5 visited the Kusumanegara Heroes’ Memorial Cemetery. Last but not least, Grade 6 wrote a letier to the president.

The visit to Kusumanegara Heroes’ Memorial Cemetery brought the 5th graders a new perspective in commemorating the fallen heroes. They prayed together and spread flowers on every tomb, starting from ordinary soldiers, troop commanders, fighters with high titles to nameless fighters who fought for this nation. A lesson for them is to study hard and do their best as learners.

The highlight of the celebration took place on Friday, August 16, 2024 at the Jogja Kembali Monument. Beginning with a ceremony, we then watched a documentary video on the history of Indonesia’s struggle for independence, followed by a tour around the museum. As we walked around in large groups, the tour guides explained what happened in each event.

Playing various fun games concluded the event. Enthusiasm and excitement coloured the celebration. It was indeed a short journey compared to the struggles that the national heroes had, but memorable for them to foster a sense of love for the country. Other than that, it was also hoped to instill the fighting spirit of our founding fathers in them, so as to make them fully ready to Greet the New Nusantara.

(by Ms Nawang)

Testimony

Prof. Dra. Hj. Suwarsih Madya, M.A., Ph.D.

Amidst the globalized situation which poses challenges of which one is a possible threat to identity, yet provides ample opportunities to excel for those who possess the prerequisites, we need to equip our children as the continuing generation with necessary competencies—affective, cognitive, psychomotor and interactive. In other words, we need to help them grow and develop into total persons and this can be achieved through the whole-child development approach which ensures the development of all potentials. In addition to this is the need for developing some competence which enables the children to communicate globally. All of this will ensure that the children will develop their citizenships both at the national and global levels. How can this ideal development be realized?

If you want to find out about how efforts are made to develop children’s whole potentials, you can come to SD Islam Al Azhar 55 Yogyakarta. Here you can see how the four-year old school has grown fast due to the stakeholders’ trust to send their children to study here. With only 54 children in the first year, this school now has 185 students. These students are educated to respect and preserve the social-cultural environment by learning the local language (Javanese, including the script) and arts (dance). Simultaneously, they certainly learn the national language (Bahasa Indonesia) and national content, which is unquestionable since it is compulsory, and English, which has now become a global lingua franca; thus, a prerequisite for successful global communication. More importantly, children in this school also learn to practise their religion consistently. So, in this school children’s identity is rooted in the local culture, with nationalism and global awareness being inherently developed together with reliogiosity.

Does the whole-child development approach at SD Islam Al Azhar still give room for children to excel? In my belief, when all their potentials are developed, children will have a greater chance to excel and I can see the truth in my belief in this primary school. In the last two years, the students have made great achievements in various competitions held at the local and national levels–gold medals in English, math and science competitions (national), silver and bronze medals in IT competitions (national), silver and bronze medals at colouring and swimming competitions (local) to mention some.

In conclusion, SD Islam Al Azhar has given evidence of the right efforts of true education to develop both intelligence and character.

Prof. DR. Budi S. Daryono, M.Agr. Sc.

Testimoni Sebagai Orang tua menyekolahkan anak Di Al-Azhar 55

Sudah menjadi kewajiban bagi orang tua untuk memberikan pendidikan yang terbaik bagi putra putrinya. Tantangan untuk mendidik anak di Era Global dan Digital pun semakin besar, kita tidak bisa lagi membendung segala perubahan yang begitu cepat terjadi, dan harus mempersiapkan anak-anak supaya bisa survive dan sholeh/sholehah tentunya. Saat ini dunia bagaikan kampung, dimana tidak ada batas-batas untuk melakukan transaksi kehidupan, untuk itu anak harus bisa berkomunikasi dengan bahasa universal sebagai modal utama. Disamping itu, pendidikah Ahlak dan Aqidah harus diberikan secara dini sebagai dasar anak dalam menghadapi gejolak gelombang kehidupan. Atas pertimbangan tersebutlah, kami selaku orang tua memilih untuk menyekolahkan putra kami tercinta Hikari di Sekolah Islam, yang menggunakan dua bahasa pengantar, yaitu Al-Azhar 55.

Prof. DR. Budi S.Daryono, M.Agr. Sc.