Abdul Malik Fadjar Ministry of Education Abdul Malik Fadjar is the Minister of National Education of Indonesia. Professor of Islamic Education at State Institute of Islamic Studies Jakarta. He got his BA and Master degree from State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN Sunan Ampel) Malang and Master of Science in Education from Florida State University, Tallahassee. He was a professional membership of Chairmanship of Indonesian Association for Social Sciences Development (HIPIIS); Chairman of Muhammadiyah University Development (BUMP); Member of Religious Science Commission of the Board of Higher Education. He was doing research, such as Madrasah as Community Base Education (Ford Foundation); The role of Islamic Publication in Indonesia; Pondok Pesantren Mapping and Development at Java Region. Since April 2004, he also holds of the positions of Coordinator Minister for People's Welfare until now.

Meaningful learning and meaningful life

Nowadays, schools do not take place at a vacuum atmosphere; it means that schools have free values. However, schools stay in a society in which it shall have no longer inter-nation boundary; nations have stronger depending among them, and the development of science and society are very fast. As a result the future life is difficult to be forecasted.

For Indonesia, challenges are increased because Indonesia has many crises, such as intellectual crisis, social capital, and the belief crisis as a nation. In such condition, Indonesian nation is facing some choices: whether we will follow the current of globalization, or will oppose globalization, or we will enter globalization intelligently. Of course, the Indonesian nation is chosen to enter globalization intelligently, it means that Indonesian nation has to cope and develop together with globalization, and also gives a contribution to a global life. The choice can be realized if education in Indonesia can develop five new abilities to all students: they are:

• ability to lead themselves
• ability to response to changes
• ability to create good values
• ability to live together with other people, and
• ability to solve problems wisely.

To develop those five abilities, education through schools should have the following changes:

• Schools should not represent an industry, but it should be a small society which requires to be managed in a good manner;
• Schools should not be mechanic systems which have relation among their various components which have character linearly and directly, but schools should be organic systems which have various interaction among school components;
• School classes should not be auditorium where students have to sit quietly and calmly, but they have to be laboratories where active students do some activities;
• Learning should be no longer as a ‘teacher’s centre’ but it has to be a ‘student’s centre’ which has many interests and motivation in getting a better achievement;
• Schools should not represent places which are bored and fearful for students, but they should represent places for joyful learning, educating students for meaningful and better life.