(Photo credit: Nadia Rafitha)
SMA Negeri 1 Yogyakarta, well known as Teladan, is one of Indonesia’s famous high schools. Many of its alumni are now being important figures in Indonesia. One of them is Paku Alam X. There is also a well-known and controversial minister, Susi Pudjiastuti. Even though she only attended school for two years.
Teladan is also well-known for its outstanding students. Every year, the students regularly win medals at the national science olympiad and research. Moreover, almost 2 out of 3 of their students got accepted in UGM annually as well as in other top universities. Besides all of their glorious achievements, Teladan has also drawn controversy. Especially regarding its regulations and culture.
This school is known for its strong Islamic influence. Because of that, they are often accused of spreading radicalism. As a result, people would think twice before entering this school. Those rumors are completely wrong. Those rumors were caused by misunderstanding.
It all happened because people misunderstood the school culture. So, Teladan have
Six cultures called Teladan cultures which was “implanted” since the orientation. One of the orientation programs is Keteladanan, which aims to make the new students become an example of good people to society.
Those six cultures are:
- Religious
- Tolerant
- Having responsibility
- Ethics
- Trustworthy
- 6S
In that context, religious means practicing the order of our religion properly. As a result, it’s applied to every school’s activity and rules. But, no rule requires Muslim students to wear the headscarf. It’s their choice to wear headscarf or not, but if they decided to wear the headscarf, they must wear it as the sharia. What makes Islamic culture looks more outstanding rather than the other is that most students are Muslim. In fact, the religious term is applied in every religion in the school.
One of the most controversial yet famous things about the school is “Women and men must use separate stairs.” This controversy happens because of misunderstandings. In fact, the stairs are separated because there is a stair that leads to the women’s partial ablution place. In Islam, some part of a women’s body is not allowed to be seen by man. It includes the feet. It is separated so the man can’t see those body parts.
“It’s such a waste if people give up their intention to get education in SMA Negeri 1 Yogyakarta just because of those nonsense rumors,” said Lathifah, the alumnus. “Because this school will not only give you academic lessons, but also provide you to build a strong character. It is hard to find this kind of public school these days. It might be hard at first, but you will find a comfort zone in its uniqueness.”
Author: Nadia Rafitha A. | Student of International Undergraduate Program-2020
