Cases of violence, poisoning, accidents, easily collapsed buildings in schools are still a common concern among stakeholders and education managers in DIY. To reduce the number of violence and accidents in schools, Professor of Universitas Gadjah Mada, Prof. Dr. Suratman, M.Sc., suggested that schools launch a child-friendly school program. “The goal of child-friendly schools is not to make new school buildings, but it is a new paradigm in educating and teaching students to create a new generation that is resilient and free from violence,” Suratman said in a press release sent on Monday (12/23).
According to him, child-friendly schools foster teacher’s sensitivity in education units to meet and protect students. The reason is because the basic concepts of culture-based education are humanist, religious, and multicultural. “Schools must be pro-gender and pro-child. Therefore culture must be included as an educational content,” he said.
The child-friendly school movement was launched last Saturday by involving several high school principals in the Yogyakarta Province and stakeholders through the declaration of the WSD-SDGs program in schools. Through this declaration, school managers in Yogyakarta are expected to be able to run child-friendly school programs through their respective willingness and commitment. The school also took the initiative from the education unit to prevent children from food poisoning and an unhealthy environment, accidents at schools caused by infrastructure or natural disasters. “We also hope to prevent children from smoking and using drugs and create better, friendlier relationships between school members,” he said.
This child-friendly school program will facilitate child monitoring in school, making it easy to achieve educational goals, creating a green and orderly environment. Indicators of this success are shown by how children become more comfortable in school and accustomed to positive habituation. “The principles of child-friendly schools are non-discrimination, the best interests of children, survival and development, respect for the views of children,” he said.
The launching of this child-friendly school program in Yogyakarta will later support the vision of the development of education in Yogyakarta in 2025 to become the Leading Center of Culture-Based Education in Southeast Asia. Therefore, the management and implementation of Yogyakarta’s education is based on the National Education System by upholding the values of the nation’s culture.
Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/18894-cegah-kekerasan-guru-besar-ugm-dorong-sekolah-lebih-ramah-anak
