The Story of How Dwi Fell in Love with Teaching

Being a teacher is both an opportunity and a challenge to fight ignorance. That resonates with Dwi Setyono, a junior high school teacher at SMP Negeri 46 OKU (Ogan Komering Ulu), South Sumatra. He shares his experience of being an unsung hero and how it became his labor of love.

Pak Dwi, as he is affectionately known by his students, is an alumnus of Mathematics Education from Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS), who graduated in 2009. Dressed in batik, perhaps his teaching attire, Pak Dwi greets us with a kind smile as we gather for our online meeting.

“I started as a graduate of Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (Vocational High School) majoring in Automotive Engineering. It was quite a leap to pursue mathematics education at UMS. Initially, my choices didn’t align with my parents’. When I enrolled in SMK, it was more out of obligation because my father gave me an ultimatum: ‘If you don’t want to go to vocational school, you don’t get to go to school.’ Despite my reservations, I committed myself wholeheartedly. As evidence, I once represented my school in the  Lomba Kompetensi Siswa (student competency competition),” shared the man from Sragen.

In his final year at SMK, Dwi participated in a recruitment process organized by the school’s Bursa Kerja Khusus (special job fair) to secure a job at various partner companies. One such company was PT Musashi Auto Parts Indonesia, part of the Astra Group. Dwi passed the recruitment process just a few weeks before graduation day.

“Fortunately, I was among 19 out of more than 100 Mechanical Engineering and Automotive Engineering participants who were selected. I worked as a Production Machine Operator, enjoying a salary that provided more than sufficient means to buy personal assets. However, as I got myself deeper into the automotive industry, I felt a lot of anxiety”

At 19, Dwi began his journey of self-reflection, reading many books about self-development. One of his favorites was “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David J. Schwartz. Through this book, Dwi started recognising himself and what he wanted to be.

“I realized that having a lot of money and experiencing the hustle and bustle of Bekasi and the capital city did not guarantee happiness. My daily work consisted of interacting solely with machines, no human connection. It was then I recalled my dream when I was in junior high school, which was to become a math teacher,” he shared, his face lighting up with a smile.

After deep discussions with his parents, despite their different views on life, Dwi finally decided to pursue Mathematics Education at UMS, entirely funding his tuition fees with the money he accumulated while working at PT Musashi Auto Parts Indonesia.

“Finally, I decided to resign and continue my studies. Incidentally, I have also known UMS since I was in vocational school because I have participated in Temu Tegak Racana Ki / Nyi Ahmad Dahlan UMS activities at the highschool level several times, which is an annual agenda for scouting organizations at UMS.”

We could not help but wonder why he did not opt for the Mechanical Engineering program instead, given his background in Automotive Engineering at a vocational school. After all, math is often perceived as challenging by many students, the mountainous amount of numbers and complicated formulas often make them feel hopeless.

“I’m not very good linguistically, I’m more of a number cruncher. I’m also inspired by my elementary school math teacher. He may seem tough and strict, but I really admire his skillful and methodical teaching approach.”

We couldn’t help but ask spontaneously, “In the eyes of your students at SMP Negeri 46 OKU, do they see you as a strict or a fun-loving math teacher?”

He chuckled and then replied, “I suppose it’s a bit of both, but perhaps ‘serious’ fits better than ‘killer’. I’m fun when teaching, serious when correcting mistakes.”

Recognizing his family’s financial constraints and his decision to self-fund his education, the avid reader realized he needed to seek a side job to fund his studies.

“I also joined my friend’s tutoring center until I finally thought of establishing my own tutoring center, teaching math for elementary, junior high, and high school,” Dwi remembered. 

During his seven semesters as a student, Dwi was busy juggling his studies and organization. He actively participated in the Mathematics Education Study Program Student Association (HMP) for two terms and served as a Mathematics Laboratory Assistant.

“Amidst my academic pursuits and founding a tutoring center, I opened a culinary business, located behind the Faculty of Pharmacy, called Spesial Ayam Kremes KYO. I think I should have my own income after I graduated. I had a decent income for two months, but in the third month, my employee resigned because of a breakup. Despite recruiting replacements, the dynamics weren’t optimal. Finally, in the fourth month I closed my business because I felt overwhelmed and couldn’t manage it effectively."

Dwi accepted his setback in the culinary business as a valuable lesson and considered returning to his previous job as a tutor. Afterward, he decided to join Ganesha Operation Boyolali as a tutor.

“After only three months at the tutoring center, I decided to follow my wife to North Sumatra to serve as a teacher,” continued the father of two sons.

Dwi opened a new chapter in his life as an honorary teacher at the Subulussalam Education Foundation in Sriwangi. However, he realized that his honorary teacher salary was not enough to meet his family’s needs. He had to work for extra income. In the mornings, before heading to school, Dwi taps rubber trees on his in-laws’ plantation In the afternoon, he would offer private tuition at his home.

“At the end of 2014, I bid farewell to my in-laws and told them I wanted to return to Java in the new academic year. The economic conditions at that time were very challenging, it was hard to just survive, let alone improve myself. I decided to try my luck by taking the civil servant test. With only one opening for a math teacher position, I felt incredibly grateful to be accepted, making me not have to return to Java,” Dwi recounted.

Exactly nine years ago, Dwi started his Aparatur Sipil Negara (civil servant) career. He was assigned as a math teacher at SMP Negeri 46 OKU until now.

“It took me some time to adapt because the people in OKU consist of various ethnic groups and have different languages. It’s a remote, developing village where parental awareness of sending children to school remains low. The surrounding neighborhood is also unsafe, so it is not advisable to go out at night,” said the 35-year-old.

SMP Negeri 46 OKU

That same year, Dwi took the Uji Kompetensi Guru (teacher competency test), a mandatory certification for educators. Thanks to his diligence in answering the test and score exceeding 80, Dwi successfully obtained certification as a teacher. As a result, he received a special assignment as a Instruktur Nasional Guru Pembelajar (national instructor for teacher education).

“My career journey has been progressing smoothly. In 2018, I was trusted to become a trainer for AKSI (competency assessment of Indonesian students). This role later became the forerunner of the Asesmen Kompetensi Minimum (minimum competency assessment) program. In addition, I have also played a role as a composer for the National Examination (UN) for junior high school mathematics for two years (2018, 2019), which at that time was selected by the Puspendik (education assessment center).”

As a teacher, Dwi experienced the dynamics of the Ministry of Education and Culture abolition of the National Exam in 2021. Now, the replacement for the National Exam is called the National Assessment, where the questions are taken from the minimum competency assessment program. With his expertise, Dwi is again one of the members of the team for the Numeracy Field.

It’s no surprise that Dwi confesses his love for his job. He continues getting various exciting and memorable experiences as an educator. In 2022-2023, he had the opportunity to become a practical teacher in the Batch 5 Activator Teacher Education Program and act as a resource person for Sharing Good Practices on the PMM (Merdeka Mengajar Platform).

“This experience became a strong foundation for my next achievement, out of 33,000 teachers who participated in the ICT-Based Learning Program organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Center for Data and Information Technology. I was selected as the Technology Ambassador of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research in South Sumatra Province in 2022. Finally, at the beginning of 2024, I was involved as a Facilitator in the Batch 9 Guru Penggerak Education Program. Everything I’ve been through is proof of my dedication to education.”

At the end of his story, Dwi shared the words that continue to inspire him, “Education is the key to success.” This powerful statement has become the primary motivator for Dwi to persevere and give his best as an educator. For him, education is not just about getting an academic degree but rather the key to unlocking opportunities and reshaping one’s destiny towards a brighter future.

Writer: Genis Dwi Gustati

Editor: Al Habiib Josy Asheva

Translator: Farizal Luqman Majid