*NU KAPLONGAN INDRAMAYU SMK STUDENTS’ RELEASE: FROM CULTURAL INCLUSIVITY TO VERTICAL MOBILITY*
By: H. Adlan Daie
Political analyst, Secretary of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) for Indramayu Regency.
The farewell ceremony for students of SMK NU KAPLONGAN on May 23, 2026, which the author attended in person at the Darul Ma’arif KAPLONGAN Foundation Ballroom, presented what Alvin Toffler, in his theory of cultural transformation, calls “cultural shock,” a cultural leap.
The way Dr. Tobroni, the Principal of SMK NU KAPLONGAN, constructed the “farewell” event, opening with a colossal “Malay” dance to the hit Malay song “Laila Canggung” (Laila Canggung), which was both elegant and lively, is what the author calls “cultural shock,” a cultural leap.
The Malay dance mentioned above may be insignificant to the general public, but even the smallest cultural transformation, for example, in the hands of Gus Dur, who always wrote about the behavior of village kiai (Islamic clerics) from a “cultural anthropological” perspective, transformed it into a landscape of “inclusivity,” a cross-cultural openness.
That was the author’s first perspective when attending the “farewell” ceremony for students of SMK NU KAPLONGAN Indramayu yesterday, sending a symbolic message of courage to undertake A “leap” in cross-cultural inclusivity.
The second perspective, no less important, was the announcement that the outstanding students were generally from the surrounding areas where the NU KAPLONGAN educational institution was established and catered to their educational interests.
This signifies that the NU KAPLONGAN educational institution has become an epicenter for its social environment, capable of providing an educational institution that sparks “vertical mobility” in awareness of the importance of education.
For the author, who has had a relatively close relationship with H. Dedi Wahidi, the founder and designer of the NU KAPLONGAN educational institution, this was certainly not surprising. He is indeed “la raiba fih,” undeniably rooted in NU, both in his family background, educational background, and political activism.
But his perspective is “open-minded,” as NU maxims call it, “Almuhafadloh ‘ala al-qodimish Sholih wal Alkhdu bi jadidil Aslah,” maintaining good traditions in a balanced “open-minded” manner, embracing the best aspects of cross-cultural and organizational life.
This is what the author wants to emphasize in this short article. The implications of the NU KAPLONGAN educational institution from the perspective of cultural anthropology and social transformation are as follows:
First, the injection of a leap in cultural transformation works within the NU KAPLONGAN educational ecosystem, where the majority grew up in Javanese families and a Javanese social ecosystem, forming a “Java-centric” perspective, narrowing the gap with the potential for intolerance toward other ethnic groups.
The generation of Malay dancers who performed at the event and the students who “released,” or graduated from NU KAPLONGAN Vocational High School, are in the age category known as Generation “Z,” or commonly referred to as “Genz,” the group below the “millennial” age group.
They were born and raised in a social media ecosystem characterized by a Boston Consulting Group (BCS) study as easily bored, “living without gadgets is like being dead,” “no gadget, no life,” “instant,” and easily crowding around digital algorithms. This is the potential for intolerance.
The findings of a survey by the research duo Marcus Mezner and Burhanudin Muhtadi (2018) confirm that the social tolerance index of Javanese society is relatively low. Cultural works do not make cross-cultural “leaps,” especially as the “genz” generation is easily shaped by digital algorithmic systems within cultural crowds.
It is from this perspective that the author places the “Malay” dance within the construction of the NU KAPLONGAN educational institution, which thrives within two ecosystems: Javanese and NU, but without losing its cultural inclusivity. “Malay” is clearly not Javanese and not part of NU culture.
Second, if H. Dedi Wahidi had not taken the initiative to establish an educational institution for the surrounding community 47 years ago, in 1983, in the imagination of Dr. Anies Baswedan, who visited the NU KAPLONGAN educational institution while serving as Minister of Education and Culture, it would have been difficult for “vertical mobility” to occur.
In this statement by Prof. Soedjatmoko, Rector of the PBB University in Tokyo, Japan (1982), “vertical mobility” means that the higher the average education level of a community, the greater the potential for opening up paths for the future.
“Education is an instrument of social engineering.” “The higher the average education index of a nation, the higher the quality of its people, providing alternative paths for the future, including the maturity of cross-cultural democracy,” wrote Soedjatmoko.
So, which other blessings of God would be denied, such as the existence of the NU KAPLONGAN educational institution, for its contribution to the Indramayu Human Development Index by fostering “open-mindedness” and cross-cultural tolerance?
Wassalam.
Indramayu, May 23, 2026
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