Palu, C Sulawesi (ANTARA) - Education that builds mental and emotional maturity must be provided from the start to students at all levels of educational units, an expert in education management has opined.
"Education basically aims not only to build intellectual intelligence, but also aims to build emotional intelligence," Prof. Sagaf S. Pettalongi, MPd., from State Islamic University (UIN) Datokarama Palu said when contacted here on Wednesday.
Emotional and moral education can help the younger generation gain maturity in thinking so that they can control themselves, he explained.
This is important because moral and emotional education can offset the effects of globalization and social interactions, he said.
"It is time for us to form a young generation that not only has intellectual intelligence, but also has emotional, spiritual, and moral intelligence," Pettalongi, who is also Chancellor of the State Islamic University (UIN) of Palu, stressed.
Currently, many young people are trapped in negative behavior, such as getting involved in brawls, and fights, as well as consuming alcohol and drugs, he said.
This behavior can portend a social disaster and have an impact on the development carried out by the government in the present and in the future if it is not immediately prevented by optimizing moral, emotional, and spiritual education for students, he added.
"The tragedy at Kanjuruhan Stadium, Malang district of East Java, for example, is an example that emotional and moral education is very important so that the younger generation has maturity in self-control," he said.
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Therefore, education is the best solution for building intellectual and emotional intelligence, he added.
In this context, in carrying out their duties and functions as educators, teachers or lecturers must integrate all learning with emotional and moral education, he said.
In addition, education on local wisdom as well as religious education must be further improved and optimized in the learning process, he added.
"From the beginning, students must be taught about good and bad behavior, whether based on local wisdom or religion. Meanwhile, lecturers or teachers are tasked with integrating learning content," he said.
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