What are the problems of rural populations in Central Java?
Farming communities in Central Java continue to suffer from multiple interconnected dilemmas. Illegal logging and forest conversion into monoculture, such as cacao and tea, have led to water shortages and drought. The soil has been tainted with residues from chemicals that were applied during the Green Revolution, resulting in decreased quality and quantity of agricultural products. Because rural communities depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, low agricultural output and prices combined with low wages continue to trap them in poverty. Farmers who own small plots, or whose plots have become partially or completely unarable for reasons mentioned above, tend to look for other jobs for their additional incomes. The resulting village-to-city-migration aggravates the aforementioned problems in the rural areas as it paves the way for the encroaching destructive monocultures and mining industries. The summation of these problems is a poverty trap.
How does SD Kenalan deal with these problems?
SD Kenalan, with its unique curriculum and socially engaged teachers, are rooted in village society. It is a "school of life" that is developed by the community and develops the community.
Local organizations such as the Sendang Arum farmer group, whose members and and key persons are also teaching at SD Kenalan, are very active in taking countermeasures such as inviting farmers to return to the original organic farming system and engage in reforestation. They also use art performance as a medium to present their message to village society. What is the biggest challenge for SD Kenalan?
Unfortunately most villagers prefer to send their children to state elementary school as they do not need to pay even though the school fee for SD Kenalan is just 40,000 Rupiah per month, which equals around 4.50 USD. 75 percent of households still earn less than 40 USD per month. Thus, we need to raise awareness to the people that this school is an investment with very high potential for the next generation.
In fact, the school's curriculum has a direct positive impact on the parents themselves. For example, most of the parents claim to practice organic farming (69%) -at least they use compost to process their production- however, they have not fully understood organic farming. Organic farming and entrepreneurship are just two examples of how parents can learn directly from what is taught to their children. These two areas are crucial for the independence of the agricultural community from the unpredictable prices of e.g. hybrid seeds and synthetic-, mineral-, and oil-based fertilizers. This in turn strengthens their economy, which in turn facilitates their children's enrollment in the ecological school!
Despite the challenges, according to 87 percent of the parents, SD Kenalan elementary school has positively developed during the last three years.
SD Kenalan has the potential to bring about social change. But it needs help to educate society first about the immense potentials that this school has.
SD Kenalan has the potential to bring about social change. But it needs help to educate society first about the immense potentials that this school has.