Willy Soemantri: Education is not Merely a Means to Create Great Men

Great musicians need to have academic education that can support their profession.

Great musicians need to have academic education that can support their profession. As stated by Willy Soemantri, 80-90s era musician who are currently still active in the world of spiritual music in Indonesia. His love for music flowed to his children. One of them Echa, student of UPH Faculty of Music 2013. To support his son?s musical talent, Willy directed his son to continue his studies in music at UPH.

According to him, parents play an important role in directing the child to get the best education and in accordance with their call. Because of that, to support his son?s musical talent, he directed his son to continue his studies in music at UPH. The reason for choosing UPH is mainly due to the quality of the lecturers who he is already familiar with.

In his opinion, the lecturer in UPH Faculty of Music are not only very talented in art but also have high academic background. Education in UPH is also very good, especially in the spiritual coaching. The campus environment is also very supportive for the learning processes. He insisted that one of the things he like the most from UPH is the ‘non-smoking campus’ slogan.

When asked about his opinion regarding education, he expressed his answer with enthusiasm. “I stick to the principle that education is not merely a means to create great men, but also a medium to explore the potential of existing intelligence in each student. Therefore, the role of education is very important. The learning outcomes should include cognitive aspects, attitudes and skills. In the end, I hope that someday, the graduates of UPH can devote their knowledge for the growth of society,” he said. (rh)