REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's National Education Day (Hardiknas), celebrated on May 2 every year, offers the necessary momentum and is a time for self-reflection to strengthen education and promote culture. Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy stated that at the ceremony of the 2018 National Education Day here on Wednesday.

"Through the momentum offered by this year's Hardiknas celebration, let us strengthen the relationship between education and culture as reflected in the teachings, thinking, and educational practices of Indonesian education leader Raden Mas Soewardi Soerjaningrat, better known as Ki Hadjar Dewantara," the minister remarked.

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Effendy explained that May 2 had been designated as National Education Day coinciding with the birth date of Ki Hadjar Dewantara.

"On this occasion, I invite all educational and cultural actors to emulate Ki Hadjar Dewantara and utilize the momentum offered by this Hardiknas to reflect on the efforts that we have striven for in the education and culture sectors," he noted.

According to the education and culture minister, three educational channels -- formal, non-formal, and informal education -- are positioned equally, as they complement each other.

"The community is offered the freedom to choose from these three educational channels, for the government gives significant attention to improve the national education," Effendy noted.

Furthermore, he noted that Indonesia is a country rich in culture, and it was recognized by Assistant Director-General of UNESCO Fransesco Bandarin, who stated that Indonesia is a superpower in the field of culture.

"We believe that advanced culture will strengthen our education," the education and culture minister affirmed.

To promote culture, he noted that the Government of Indonesia had issued Law No. 5 of 2017 on Cultural Progress.

The law mandates that the promotion of culture necessitates strategic steps in the form of efforts to protect, develop, utilize, and coach in order to realize a politically sovereign Indonesian society, economic self-reliance, and personality and culture.

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