Yuda Wira Jaya:
Nilai yang Hilang
(The Missing Value)

In the pre- and post-independence periods of Indonesia, the education systems provided by the Dutch colonial and Indonesian governments were and remain far from the noble purposes of literacy development and freedom of thought.

Between 1817 and 1942, schools were established by the Dutch colonial government to promote economic and social values that benefited colonial agendas. The early schools for the disabled/diffabled in Indonesia were founded by Dutch missionaries as part of the Ethical Policy, which, in some ways, embeds a colonial perspective; this includes the superiority of oralism over sign language in schools for the Deaf, a legacy still present in some schools to this day. On the other hand, the education system developed by the Indonesian government has not advanced individual freedom of agency. Meanwhile, the public Schools for Students with Special Needs (Sekolah Luar Biasa/SLB) have treated disabled/diffabled students as lesser than the nondisabled ones, as they deliberately lower the education standard for SLB compared to the mainstream schools.

Yuda Wira Jaya’s monologue addresses the missing value from the current Indonesian education system. The system, he argues, only makes children grow to serve what the government puts forward, rather than make them grow to be themselves. The monologue elucidates that an education system can either enable or disable people, departing from the notion that disability can emerge from an oppressive environment.

Cast

Script and Narration
Yuda Wira Jaya

Work Details

Medium: stereo audio fixed media