By Moh Kholid
Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education. It was stipulated by Bertrand Russell in the earlier of 20th century and still felt relevant up to nowadays circumstances by any point of view.
According to data from the Central Statistics Agency in 2024, the unemployment rate among graduates of Vocational High Schools (SMK) reached 4.91% in August, the highest among other levels of education. More than 60% of SMK graduates work in jobs unrelated to the competencies they studied during their education. However, these figures merely scratch the surface of a far more complex systemic crisis.
A graduate of a Vocational High School in Computer Engineering, for example, embodies the reality of this issue. After three years of studying information technology, he now works as a waiter in a café on the outskirts of the city. His dreams of working in technology are buried beneath trays of orders and coffee machines. This is a systemic representation of the failure of the educational system.
The most fundamental issue lies in the instability of the education system itself. Indonesia has undergone at least six major curriculum changes since the reform era: from the 1994 Curriculum, the 2004 Curriculum (KBK), the 2006 Curriculum (KTSP), the 2013 Curriculum, to the Merdeka Belajar Curriculum. Each of these changes has not only been an administrative adjustment but also a philosophical shock that has affected the fate of millions of students.
With each curriculum shift, teachers are forced to adapt quickly, students lose continuity in their learning, and the education system is left adrift in uncertainty. The true philosophy of education—which should be a space for liberation and potential development—has instead been reduced to an endless administrative experiment.
The worst impact of these curriculum changes is not only on academic aspects but also on the mental health of the younger generation. Generation Z faces unique challenges that previous generations have never encountered. They are the first generation to grow up in a fully digital era, with unlimited access to information that is often devoid of meaning. The education system has failed to comprehend their psychological complexity—the need for meaning, authenticity, and genuine space for self-expression.
Paulo Freire once reminded us that true education is not a process of “depositing” knowledge into students’ minds, but a process in which humans learn to read the world, understand its social context, and ultimately transform it. Yet, our education system has become the opposite—restrictive, normalizing, and neglectful of mental health.
Plato, in his Academy, envisioned education as a journey of enlightenment—a transformative process that goes beyond mere knowledge transfer. Today, however, the educational model in our country has been reduced to a mechanism for producing efficient labor, losing its soul in the process.
Ki Hajar Dewantara, the true educator, once stated that education must cultivate the awareness of “ingngarsa sung tuladha, ingmadyamangunkarsa, tut wurihandayani“—leading by example, fostering spirit, and providing strength. However, the current system does the opposite: it limits, normalizes, and stifles creativity.
Particularly in vocational education, the issue becomes even more complex. Curricula are designed as though students are machines that can be reprogrammed according to the needs of the labor market. A student in mechanical engineering is not only taught how to repair machines but should be guided to understand the philosophy behind technology. Why were machines created? How can technology become an extension of human creativity, not just a tool of production?
The greatest irony lies in the fact that as technology advances, the relationship between humans and the true meaning of education continues to degrade. Vocational schools, which should be places to sharpen creativity, critical thinking, and innovation, have instead become mechanistic spaces designed to meet industrial demands.
The pressing philosophical question that must be answered is: Can we redesign education? Can we create a system that does not merely transfer skills but transforms consciousness? An education that views each individual as a subject with unique potential waiting to be awakened.
A proper education is not about producing laborers or merely transferring knowledge. It is a journey of liberation—building a fully realized human being, with all their complexities of thought, feeling, and transformative potential. Can we imagine a reimagined education? Can we restore its soul—not just to produce workers but to form whole, critical, dignified individuals capable of facing the complexities of life?
