The traditional education system loves to make us compete with each other in academic endeavors. They put you in a ranking system and opened a lot of opportunities for the kid who has the best performance. We were also told not to cheat on tests and do our work on our own, which promotes individualism. We were told to never collaborate on a task(exam) and to compete to be the best so we can gain more opportunities in life. 

It’s an irony that to succeed in school, you need competition. While in the real world, success often comes with collaboration.

Isn’t it funny how schools are training us to be workers, not inventors? We are programmed to do whatever the teacher told us to do, sit quietly, and not question whatever they gave to us. Those who excel in school would make excellent workers for a company. Yet, without the necessary skills you gain outside of the traditional education system, these workers won’t be able to start something on their own because they only know how to receive orders and work individually. And let’s be real, you will not become a billionaire from your monthly salary.

Another thing that schools taught us was equality and gaining opportunity based on how ‘hard’ we work. While in the real world, opportunities often come to those who are lucky. Opportunities would come to those who have a certain skin color, a certain religion, or a certain feature or belief that didn’t merely come from hard work. If you are in a homogenous school where a lot of the kids have the same background and ethnicity, it’ll take longer for you to notice how ‘the real world’ works.

Schools make us believe that our starting point is the same. We all use uniforms to resemble that each student has the same opportunity in life and should do well if they follow the curriculum they are given. But no. Every kid would require a different education system than the other kid in class. Because some kids are better at math, some are better at history, some are dyslexic and can’t read at all, some dedicate themselves to music, and some are really into fitness and health. Some kids would actually do great in this academic system, but for a lot of kids, schoolwork is often a hindrance in unlocking their full potential.    

Piercing, tattoos, nails, and unnatural hair color are often forbidden in Indonesian schools, especially in strict private schools. This hinders kids’ process of identity search and makes it slower for them to find themselves. This often becomes one of the reasons why there are people in their mid-lives who still haven’t figured out who they are. 

The management of time, money, and emotions are essential skills in living in this urban world. Yet those skills aren’t the main curriculum they teach in formal education. 

Do you realize that most kids hate studying and their ‘fun time’ is spending money hanging out with friends? This habit would translate into adulthood where people hate their jobs and live for the weekends. We are not programmed to find satisfaction in doing our daily ‘job’. That is why being in a community doing what you love is really important to build the mindset and social skills and actually talking to people in an enjoyable/fulfilled way while still being ‘at work’.

I was one of the students who believe that if I succeed in the traditional school environment, I’d also succeed in the actual world. Until I found out that I wouldn’t even survive being in the ‘real world’, let alone successful. All we need to remember is that schools are also businesses that have people hungry for money behind them, and you got to find your own way to reach your own goals in life. The traditional educational system might work for you, but it might not. You just have to find a way around it and still get that degree. If this system is not working for you, don’t take schools too seriously. That’s all I gotta say.