Alam (Nature) Islamic School in Banguwangi

The Banguwangi “Alam” (Natural) Islamic School: “The Character School”

 On the way back from Bali and Banguwangi, at the far end of the island of Java, I visited this very special alternative Islamic school.  It calls itself (in English) the “Character School,” specializing in “leadership, religion, language, and science.”  To say I was greeted warmly would be an understatement.  As I got out of the car, I was surrounded by somewhere between 35 to 40 students, even on a Sunday, a holiday for most schools here.  The staff member driving the university car remarked, “you are famous here, like a movie star.”  But what was overwhelmingly touching was the way each student gave me a “selaman” greeting, taking hands to their heads first and then to the heart.  I was speechless.  My friend and colleague, Habib, had arranged all this, because he has taken an interest in this school from the start.  We then proceeded to open the boxes of books that I and others had donated.  I saw the headmaster brush away tears from his eyes as he held a Qur’an I had given.  (I did not get a chance to tell him that a friend in Bosnia had given it to me after she came back from the Hajj.)  After opening the boxes, the teachers and headmaster asked me to give a little speech (this is done regularly here in Indonesia, and public speaking is an emphasis at the school.)  I don’t know what I said, but I wanted to convey how happy I was to share these English-language books with them, and that I would like to come back and hear them tell me in English what they have learned.  

Habib told me on the long trip through East Java afterwards that, “The School makes the students more creative, more independent, more innovative, since they learn by themselves, not because of the teachers.”  It is an alternative to the madrassahs and “pesantrens” (special Indonesian boarding schools that have traditionally taught reciting the Qur’an and only recently added a fuller curriculum).  What distinguishes this school is that it is open to all students, regardless of their ability to pay.  In fact, it is famous in the media for being the school where parents can pay with vegetables.  Each Monday the students bring vegetables from their families to cook for the week.  The students even cook by themselves.  When students do not have money to pay, they are welcome to come, and the school tries to find sponsors for students who cannot pay.  The school does not need expensive facilities like big buildings, and does not even need classrooms. The teachers are motivators, not teachers.  That is why they spend less money.  The group with the student leader sets the lesson plan, and the group evaluates the plan.  On the exams, their grades are not so high, but above average, but the advantage is they are more self-confident, and have more facility in English and in Arabic.  When they continue their study to senior high school, they can work as tutors because they have acted as mentors to other students in their elementary school.  Their skill in mentoring is more important than the scores on their subjects.  They become trained as trainers; from the beginning they are sent to other schools to be mentors to students of the same age.  When they graduate from the school, they are really self-confident mentors.  Even in everyday life, they feel everybody should have an opportunity to be a leader in the group.  Not only in learning, but also in praying. They have to be ready to be imams.  Class is community-based.  Every week the leader changes.  

Of course the school, taking children aged six to twelve, is Islamic and at the same time stresses  “generous character” open to global insights.   It is inclusive, open, not exclusive, and welcome to the poor.  Not fundamentalist.  In their studies, the teachers and students try to strike a balance between religious education and life skills that will be useful in religion, society and the nation.  As Habib has often said, Indonesia is still a feudal society, so the emphasis on independence and creativity is hugely needed in a country and culture where innovative thinking is not prized, and people expect to follow orders.  I hope that in the future I and others of like mind will be able to contribute in some small way to this school.   “Selaman.”