Asean youth backpacking school program :
an effective way to build asean community 2015
-Zukhrofi Muzar-
The meeting of 14th ASEAN Summit decided to promote youth traveling in ASEAN and announced that from 2009 to 2010 will be the Youth Travelers’ Year. The ASEAN countries seeked solutions for boosting their own tourism industry addressing issues such as the high costs of international traveling and the global economic downturn.
With such problems mentioned above, how can the ASEAN youth feel the sense of “ASEAN-ness” if they don’t have the opportunity to go out of his/her country? Visiting other ASEAN countries, and having friends of different ASEAN nationalities are some ways of building a better understanding of the different communities found in the region.
Currently, only a small percentage from the youth sector of developing countries experience traveling abroad. The opportunity is only open for the best students from the best schools. How about the other students that don’t excel as much as their schoolmates? Don’t they deserve to take part in building an Asian community too? What should they do, just depend on mass media in relying information about the ASEAN member counties, or use social networking sites such as facebook to build connections? It is not adequate to get the real feeling of “Aseanness” and get friends amongst cross-country should one opt to do this.
The International Year of Youth Travellers announced by ASEAN should be supported by every government to make a program to ease the youths’ burden when traveling abroad. One key factor is for every country’s government to sign trade agreements with airlines that offer cheap fares when traveling abroad. A partnership between the different airline companies and ASEAN member-states will help boost youth traveling within the region. This essay supplies suggestions regarding the youth backpacking school program of the recently concluded ASEAN Summit.
The term of backpacking has historically been used to denote a form of low-cost, independent international travel. Backpacking has long been a part of the American and European customs. Among the youth of the said region, the youth sector has made backpacking part of their culture. Backpacking usually happens during the summer breaks and the youth spend their own money earned either from doing a part-time job or from the allowance their parents gave. This is not true in the ASEAN region since only a small percentage of the youth sector have part-time jobs. Salaries as well is not enough or sufficient to support a backpacking travel within the said region..
Backpacking is perceived as being more than a vacation, but a means of education. There are three main benefits of backpacking activity. The first is to build self-confidence. In backpacking, people meet different people. For example, while walking, you might need to ask for information about a certain area or interest. Backpackers should not be shy to ask. In spending money, energy and time as effectively as possible, they must be confident to ask local people or other travelers. Another circumstance is when, for example, backpackers should speak up when they feel they have been offended or if there is a need to say something is important, so in this way, the chances of being tricked upon will be lessened. It is important that the youth today expand their connections among other youths from other countries. The second is to build leadership. Backpacking is a test of leadership skills. For example, backpackers plan, organize and decide important steps in order to make their “adventure worthy”. Taking risks with knowledgeable deicisons as well creates a more sense leadership among the youth. Backpackers also adapt to change, may it be social, physical or cultural change. Adaptation skills foster among leaders and can be used Asian youths to take role in international activities, so they can utilize Asean youth links not only for have friends but they have to be able to maintain their relationship to make a joint project or to collaborate projects beneficial for the society at large in future. The third benefit from backpacking is widening our insight and to build a new framework. Seeing directly what happens in other countries and witnessing real-life situations creates new insight and point-of-view about what’s the importance in life and how to prioritize. In one of the lectures I attended, someone said that ”people who experienced living abroad is having a better way of seeing something happen around them”. I agree with her opinion. By having a broad insight and better framework, it is a key of success in life and career in future. If Asian youths do backpacking, ultimatey they will pursue a reformation of the self and identity to become the future leaders of the ASEAN community.
Going back on the issue of incorporating backpacking into a extracurricular school program, the school’s role is important in assuring that backpacking as part of education will boost the performance of the students. By being part of education, this program surely becomes more popular and easier to be accepted by students and their parents. Through this program in school, it will emphasize the benefits of backpacking among ASEAN youths, just like what is happening among those youths found in Europe and the Unites States.
In order for the program to succeed, there is a need for stakeholders, students, teachers, parents, school officials, the government bodies and the private sector, to collaborate. In school for example, the backpacking school program could be incorporated with subject-disciplines, like the Social Sciences and Languages. Teachers in the said subjects could promote “Aseanness” in class, giving necessary orientation for students interested in the program. This will create students eager to learn more from their neighboring countries since their only source of information, before the backpacking program, are books and other forms mass media. The school officals must take active role on searching information about this program, since there is a possibility that information is delayed to schools in the countryside, like what often happens in Indonesia, wherein only schools in the cities get access to information first. The government agencies, particularly the the ministry of education and culture must coordinate the program and ensure that the information covers all schools in each region while the ministry of tourism builds agreements to their counterparts in the ASEAN member-states to ensure safety precautions. Since this program should follow principle as economically-viable as possible. Money spent by government agencies will assure that the traveling expenses such as airfares are bought from the private sector that offers the cheapest amount. The ASEAN Foundation can act as a link to all countries that want to carry out this program. And also, it could formulate a safety coordination for students in countries addressed to. The ASEAN Foundation will ask students participating to take an active role in promoting the program. In home-stay community, because it’s a program, there should be agenda and report of the students about activity in that community, and after going back to own country, students must present a report to school and to Asian foundation as well. Students should be encouraged to keep contact with their home-stay families in order to establish an ASEAN community.
By accomplishing this program, it hopes that students will be more interested in subjects that are important in building a sense of ASEANness and of course it will encourage shools to attain better quality of education. By introducing Backpacking Program among the ASEAN Youth within the ASEAN Community, backpacking can become a culture of Indonesian youth.
Medan, 21 Mey 2009
10.00 pm
