Ms. Sarah's Efforts to Build Peace Among Multicultural Students with PeaceGen
PeaceGen.Id - Being a leader in the midst of diversity is certainly not an easy task. However, Ms. Sarah sees this situation as both a challenge and an opportunity to build a safe and meaningful educational ecosystem. She is Sabarina Nur Sarah, M.Pd., principal of SMPN 25 Bandung.
The school is located in the center of Bandung, which has a multicultural community. On one side, it is close to a mosque, and on the other, it is close to a temple. Therefore, the students of SMPN 25 Bandung come from diverse social, cultural, religious, and character backgrounds. With this foundation, Ms. Sarah hopes to make SMPN 25 Bandung a “School of Peace” by 2026.
Ms. Sarah's concerns about education stem from the reality that schools face more non-academic challenges than academic ones. As an educator who is a member of the PPKSP (Prevention and Handling of Violence in Educational Units), Ms. Sarah noted that in the past few months alone, reports of bullying at various school levels have been quite disturbing.
From her findings, Ms. Sarah discovered that the root of the problem lies in the fragility of students' empathy, the extraordinary dynamics of adolescence, the challenges of digital literacy, issues of intolerance, and the vulnerability of students' critical thinking skills.
Therefore, Ms. Sarah emphasized that teachers and parents need to work together to help children cope with the rapid changes of the times. She is doing all this to address issues of vulnerability among students. She hopes that in the future, a safe, inclusive, and empowered school environment will be created. For her, empowerment means when students are able to think critically, appreciate differences, and have an awareness of peace that is implemented in their daily lives.
For Ms. Sarah, her first meeting with PeaceGeneration Indonesia seemed to answer her concerns all this time.
“The values brought by PeaceGen, such as peace, tolerance, healthy digital literacy, and strengthening the role of educators, really answer my needs,” she said.
She emphasized that PeaceGen's approach feels more contextual and relevant. More than just a program, PeaceGen is able to build awareness and change mindsets that have a major impact on creating change.
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She expressed this after embracing PeaceGen in various activities, both for teachers and parents, such as She believes that the hands-on activities carried out by PeaceGen make the learning atmosphere more enjoyable and less boring.
“Programs such as capacity building for principals and teachers, digital literacy webinars, and parent involvement activities have a real and sustainable impact, not just ceremonial,” she said.
In the future, Ms. Sarah hopes to expand her collaboration with PeaceGen through more structured and sustainable programs to realize ‘Peaceful Schools 2026’.
“We still need to strengthen ethical digital literacy and involve parents as strategic partners in strengthening a culture of peace in schools,” she said enthusiastically.
The steps taken by Ms. Sarah remind us that educational goals are not solely the responsibility of leaders. Principals need to embrace teachers, parents, and students to collaborate in creating a safe and peaceful school environment.
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Teachers who wish to participate in teacher capacity-building activities like Ms. Sarah? Follow Instagram @peacegenid and @peacegen.academy for information on other capacity-building activities!
For teachers who wish to collaborate further with PeaceGen, please contact us via email at [email protected]
