Education Fails to Build Character, Corruption Becomes a Culture

By: dr. Yandra Doni – Head of Political Affairs, Gema Bangsa Party

Let’s be honest. Education in Indonesia is still preoccupied with numbers, but forgets to shape people. We focus too much on memorization, rankings, and exam scores—yet we fall short in instilling core values like honesty, responsibility, empathy, and moral character.

As a result, we produce many intelligent individuals, but few with integrity. People with long academic titles, but who cannot be trusted. And that’s where we see why corruption in this country seems never-ending.

Corruption Is Not Just a Legal Issue

We’ve long believed that corruption can only be eradicated through strict law enforcement. That’s true—but the law only acts after a crime has occurred. Prevention? That’s the role of education.

People become corrupt because their moral foundation is weak. Because from a young age, they were never taught to feel shame for taking what isn’t theirs. Because in school, grades can be bought, rankings manipulated, and honesty goes unrewarded.

This is our failure: an education system that doesn’t build character will only produce leaders who serve themselves.

This Nation Needs Education That Shapes Both Mind and Heart

Education must be more than just the transfer of knowledge. It should be a space for building moral awareness. Unfortunately, our current system is fragmented. Secular education runs on its own, religious education on another track—when in fact, they should be integrated.

This country doesn’t need people who can only calculate quickly but are blind to values. We need a generation that can think critically, yet still have empathy and a conscience. Intelligence without ethics is dangerous.

Gema Bangsa Pushes for Integrated Education Reform

At Gema Bangsa, we believe many of the nation’s problems stem from the classroom. That’s why we advocate for a national education reform that unites secular and religious curricula into a single, cohesive value system.

We also believe in restoring the role of teachers as educators—not just instructors. Teachers must have the space to guide character development, not just chase administrative targets.

Education Must Stay Connected to Real Life

One of the weaknesses of our current education system is its lack of relevance to the real world. Children learn many things that aren’t applicable, then feel lost after graduation—unprepared for work, unprepared for life.

On the other hand, we also fail to teach social responsibility. Education must not be neutral in the face of injustice. It must teach the courage to take a stand and defend what is right—not just go with the flow.

If You Want to Change a Nation, Start in the Classroom

We can build tall buildings, long highways, and advanced technology. But if our education still fails to shape character, we’re only producing a generation that’s good at counting—but feels no shame in stealing.

And that’s how corruption becomes a culture.

Gema Bangsa stands to fight that. We believe that building a strong and moral education system is the only way to safeguard the nation’s future.

Because a great nation is not just one with smart people—but one with honest people.