PKBM and Home Schooling

Education has several purposes like earning bread and butter, shelter, clothing, and a good life. Education nowadays is no longer studying in classrooms or doing the experiment in the laboratory, but it also could be done independently. Independently means that education is from, for, and by the society. As the examples are PKBM which stands for Pusat Kegiatan Belajar and Home Schooling. PKBM itself has the meaning, an informal education which is established and managed by the society to improve the knowledge, skills, and behavior of the society in economic, social, and cultural aspect (Accessed on Monday, September 27^th, 2010; www.imadiklus.com). The second form of education is Home Schooling which is the continuous and purposed education that is done by family or parents to learn and teach (Accessed on Sunday, April 18^th, 2010; www.pnfi.depdiknas.go.id). Moreover, let us analyze the similarity between them which is they have the same type of education and the contrast between them, which are; their stakeholders and participants.

Firstly, let us have a look from the type of both education institutions. PKBM and Home Schooling are in the same type of education which is extramural. This alternative education is established by the government to answer the questions about the different opportunities, purposes, and needs that the students have. A student who has the purpose to be an actress probably will choose Home Schooling as his/her choice. Otherwise, for those who do not have enough money to study in the formal one will choose PKBM as their choice. Moreover, the extramural education enables students to study freely without having the strict rule like in the conventional one. Besides, the extramural education offers students to choose which aspect that they want to be expertise in. They can also have the equality examination if they want to continue to the higher level of education. Although PKBM and Home Schooling are managed independently, those two alternatives educations are supervised and allocated the funds by the PNFI which stands for Pendidikan Non Formal Informal (Accessed on Monday, September 27^th, 2010; www.pnfi.depdiknas.go.id).

Subsequently, let us figure out the contrasts between PKBM and Home Schooling in terms of the stakeholders which are involved in. In this case, stakeholders mean the manager or the decision-makers of those institutions. Firstly, let us have a look at PKBM. An institution of PKBM is established, managed, and held by the social community in that environment. PKBM usually is formed by a group of people in an area who cares to its residents and their condition. That social community deals with anything about PKBM from the curricula until the teachers. Secondly, let us have a look at the stakeholder of Home Schooling. If PKBM is held by a social community or more, Home Schooling on the other hand is run by families or parents. From the name of Home Schooling itself, it takes place at the students’ houses. Commonly, parents ask teachers to come to their houses. As the stakeholder of Home Schooling, the parents can manage classes depend on the needs of their children and the curricula that their children want to learn.

Thirdly, let us have a look at the participants of both institutions. The contrasts between PKBM and Home Schooling are really obvious if we have a look at the students’ rate. There are two merits of both institutions. First of all is about the average age of the participants. If we enter a class of PKBM, there will be a lot of students who have reached the productive age, from twenty to forty years old. On the other hand, Home Schooling is full with the students who are in the same age as those who are in the formal one. Second of all, let us analyze about the rate of families. In fact, the students of PKBM are under poverty line. Thus, the orientation of PKBM students is to get the certificate and get the better jobs. In contrast, the students of Home Schooling who come from the better rate of families take Home Schooling as their choice because their parents want to give the intensive education. In some cases, Home Schooling becomes the choice of our teenage celebrities to get the education in their spare time. Thus, the students’ condition determines their needs.

In short, we can conclude that actually both PKBM and Home Schooling not only have the similarity but also several contrasts. They have the similarity in terms of the type of education. Moreover, both of them also have the differences in terms of the stakeholders which take a part in them and the participants or the students of both education institutions. Furthermore, there are several suggestions for the National Education Ministry as the decision-maker of both institutions, two of which are; first, there must the optimal socialization about both education institutions to the society so they know which type of education that suitable for their children and second, the government should allocate the enough fund to support the curriculum, teachers, and management of both education institutions, mainly PKBM. Urgently, The Minister of National Education should carry out those suggestions above by establishing the training and guidance for the teachers, students, and so does the society. To make sure that the fund allocations touch the right targets, the government should place the supervisors in every single regency in Indonesia. Hopefully, by doing those suggestions above, the quantitative and qualitative of our human resources will be improved in the future.   

 Written by

Nurrahma Sutisna P