in the profile number of the Indonesian company Expat, we meet Indri Gautama. Indri is the owner of the Royal Academy School and a highly respected educator in Indonesia.
Indri Gautama
You are clearly a woman with a vision of youth empowerment this country. Tell us, where does your passion for the rod of education from?
The passion comes from my personal experience when I was pursuing my tertiary studies abroad. I think that knowledge is power. Our country is vast and rich in natural resources, what is lacking in this country is that of human resources. We must improve our education system with life skills.
How did the idea to start the Royal Academy begins?
I noticed that education in Indonesia only focus on academic achievement that finally makes them stressful children and reluctant to go to school. In this digital world with 21 st high technology century, the educational method of the school is still the 20th century. Thus, students are more excited about school. Schools need to be upgraded to a 21 st century education with digital technology, so small children are exposed to the world not only a classroom. I have a vision of providing quality education that instills moral values and character at an early age so that children can have personal goals and international spirit that will support their academic success.
You have grown from 10 students in 2010 to more than 200 students today. What do you think is the secret of the success of your school?
This is the same vision that is shared between school staff and parents. We have an objective view of the life of a child transform and become a leader in their home, school and community. As a result, our students have changed dramatically in terms of character and academics. Children have lifelong learning skills and they love school with a great desire to explore new things in moral terms.
Why do you believe that education is so important in our world today
Knowledge is power ?; unconscious, people are not the leadership and vision. Education is a strong weapon to change a nation. We can change the thinking and habits of the people by providing the right system to transform their little minds to dream big.
Royal Academy focuses on instructional leadership. Can you tell us why you think this is an important skill to teach children and how are you doing at the Royal Academy?
Every child is born with the potential to be great. It's our educators to release that greatness in them. We teach children leadership by implementing personal goals CPI, which produces communication skills, thinking, resilience, respect, cooperation, adaptability, investigation and morality. We want to see children with personal goals since childhood and are therefore able to conduct their personal life at home or at school and in their neighborhood.
Do you believe that the local public school children receive a good education? What could be improved?
This is a very difficult question to answer. First, we must determine what the "good education" is. Each school has its own vision and mission should provide an overview of how "education" is assessed in this school. Each school is different. I can not stand here and say that local schools are less equipped than other schools, but there are issues that we must consider.
local schools are looking at the development of intelligence? Rather than having children sitting in a classroom and learn rote work, teachers are being trained to look at how having children think of questions of higher order, develop investigative skills, have basic knowledge in which they can explore and be challenged on? Is it that children are given opportunities to reason and think? Is it learning child-centered? Ask teachers were given sufficient training to take on the new concept of education for 21 st century? It is not necessarily about a basic program, but the overall development of the child.
Indri Gautama and school children
What the Royal Academy provide that is different from other schools international standards?
Royal Academy provides an environment where children are encouraged to love learning. This may seem simplistic that all schools are fighting for this, but the reality of the Royal Academy is not only based on a strong program (International Primary Curriculum), but also looking for character development. Each child is treated as an individual when we look at their strengths and build on them and if we see areas "perceived" improvement, we are working on them. Some schools have the tag "international", but is "internationalism" actually taught and wrapped in the curriculum? The goal is to give all children the opportunity to explore their talents. We have an enrichment program that has proven so successful that we have now developed our own group, art club and choir. We know that we have reached the heart of the children when we give enrichment forms at the end of the term and they are scrambling to choose what they want to do. It is the love of learning!
Royal Tots Academy has earned the reputation of being one of the most successful educational and learning programs rewarding Indonesia, known for its early childhood current practices and excellent curriculum. What are the basics of your school
The basic principles in the Youth Learning Centre are and have always been that we are a family ?; parents and teachers work together for the benefit of the school. We have an excellent program - CPI (Early Years) - which gives our teachers the basic approach of investigation necessary in our school. We have great teachers who go beyond the scope of employment. We have a leadership team who always put education educational decisions first. All staff and teachers were trained in the CPI, so we know what we want for our children and we are very attentive to their needs.
You're also known for your humanitarian work. Tell us about your school in Nusa Tenggara Timur. What attracted you to open a school in this part of Indonesia? What is missing in
What attracted me to open the preschool - who has now spent in primary school - is that on my site visit to Central Manggarai, East Flores , in which they suffered a long drought and famine, to my surprise, I was greeted by many children aged 2 - 6 years without shoes. I asked him, "Why are you not in school" They said, "! No teacher, Madame," I realized that these Robusta coffee farmers are illiterate and there is no infrastructure. Where they live, there is no water and no electricity. It would be difficult to break the poverty without breaking the poverty mentality and I know that the first step that brings education to all their little ones and improve their nutrition. We built a steel structure on a piece of land lent by the natives. The children were so happy with the presence of the former school and also a small hospital to serve the sick.
What challenges do you face in your school in NTT? How did you fund this project?
The challenge is the condition of the land which was impossible for any transport to enter, except for motorcycle trailers. It is so difficult to find qualified workers. We must therefore qualified carpenters, steel and Java stone workers. We also faces resistance from some groups of people because of their insecurity, but after a year all their accusations proved to be false and we are now in our sixth year and adat leadership has given our foundation another batch of earth through which we can build our elementary school. We welcome the people of Dusun Koko. How we fund is 100% by sponsorship and donation by partner mission of our foundation.
What values do you hold close to your heart?
I enjoy life, so I value people. We are relational people. We work better when we're in a group, work together as a team to achieve a goal to a destiny. What is important is not the building but the people inside the building. Therefore, in school, I teach these little people like. Because they receive love, they can give love to their parents and siblings and their teachers and classmates. Children learn best in a loving environment. They are very adaptable.
www.royalacademy.co.id