The Story of Fatikhah, the Babysitter Who Chased After Her Dreams
Have you ever have a dream so big but due to circumstances, you just couldn’t make it a reality? Fatikhah was born in Central Java in 1995. After graduating from junior high school, Fatikhah couldn’t continue to a higher level of education due to financial constraints. Fatikhah’s dad is a farmer while her mom is a housewife. With mediocre income, Fatikhah’s parents were unable to pay for their eldest daughter’s tuition. Fatikhah realized that she would not be able to impose her will to continue her education. At the age of 16, Fatikhah decides to move to Jakarta.
In Jakarta, Fatikhah tried to find work that could support her to continue her education. She worked as an elderly caregiver and then a babysitter. In the mids of her busy schedule as a babysitter, Fatikhah found a learning center (PKBM) called Yayasan Pemimpin Anak Bangsa (YPAB), where she continues her education to obtain a high school diploma through the Package C program. Every Saturday and Sunday, Fatikhah goes to PKBM YPAB to attend classes, the rest of the week she has to learn at her own time.
As a babysitter, learning independently can become quite a challenge especially since Fatikhah had to carry all of her books and stationery to study while waiting for the child she is taking care of to finish school. Luckily PKBM YPAB is getting access to Ruangguru digitalbootcamp (RGDB) package C which is an online learning program from Ruangguru. Throughout this program, Ruangguru provides access to online learning materials for Package C students that could be accessed anytime and anywhere, making it easier for students who have a full-time job to study amidst their busy schedule. This program was given to 500 students in 22 PKBMs in the Jabodetabek and Bandung area and is supported by the Australian Government, the Atlassian Foundation and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
With RGDB Package C, Fatikhah can study with tutors, facilitators, and other friends who are a part of the group chat on Whatsapp every night. Fatikhah is one of the most diligent students attending online discussions. According to Fatikhah, the RGDB’s tutors are really friendly and she feels comfortable asking questions about the study materials when she doesn’t understand them. Fatikhah also received a learning module that can be accessed through her mobile phone. “Learning becomes so much easier,” she said.
In addition to group chats with standby tutors, Fatikhah also received free access to ruangbelajar. In ruangbelajar Fatikhah has the opportunity to watch learning videos, work on practice questions, and read summaries of the learning videos in the form of infographics that could be saved into your phones. Fatikhah claimed to really enjoy the videos in ruangbelajar. In addition to being very brief and clear, the animations in the video are entertaining so that fatikhah doesn’t feel tired or bored spending hours watching the learning videos while waiting for the child she is taking care of to come home from school.
On one occasion, the Ruangguru team also visited PKBM YPAB to give a motivation session to the RGDB package C participants. Fatikhah admitted that she was getting more enthusiastic to prepare for the national exams. Fatikhah also expressed her desire to become a teacher, she hid these dreams from her parents due to their perspective on education. They think that women should not go to school, because after all, they will end up in the kitchen anyway.
Fatikhah is determined to be the first person in her family to attain higher education despite her parent’s point of view on education. It is true that none of Fatikhah’s family continues to pursue higher education, most of them stopped going to school after junior high school. But Fatikhah believes that by pursuing higher education she can improve her family’s socioeconomic status.
In addition to providing motivation, the Ruangguru team also distributed the Ruangguru USB On-The-Go! (OTG) to Fatikhah and her friends. With the USB OTG, Fatikhah can watch learning videos without the fear of running out of data. “It’s easy and fun, you just need a cellphone and charger,” answered Fatikhah, the eldest daughter of three siblings.
After 4 months of studying with Ruangguru, the awaited moment finally arrived. Fatikhah had to sit through The Package C examination as well as the Joint Entrance Exam to State Universities (SBMPTN) so that she is able to go after her dreams of becoming a teacher. Due to Fatikhah’s hard work and consistency of using the Ruangguru app to study and answer practice questions, Fatikhah managed to pass both the package C examination as well as the SBMPTN exam which was very competitive. She successfully competed against 60,000 other students who have worked equally as hard to get admitted to the Jakarta State University.
Starting out as a daughter of a farmer who then moved into the city to become a babysitter, Fatikhah’s dream to attend university became a reality. She got accepted to the Jakarta State University majoring in Special Education even though she is 23 years old. It’s never too late to fulfill your dreams so never give up on your dreams. Never stop learning!
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