As the nation’s education system has been found to be lacking, groups roll up their sleeves to find better ways to impart knowledge. Various community-based movements have come up with initiatives to confront problems in education. Gerakan Indonesian Berkibar (Indonesian Education Movement, GIB) started by connecting government institutions, corporations or donors and other educational community-based outfits and beneficiaries — schools, teachers and students — in education-related aid projects.
“It’s a relatively new movement launched on Oct. 28, 2012. So far, we’ve only done one project, which is helping an elementary school in Bekasi build a library and conducting skill training for its teachers,” GIB co-founder Shafiq Pontoh told The Jakarta Post. As a hub, GIB connects parties interested in the project to make it come true. The project started with a school that needed help to build a library. Shafiq said the group found a private bank that was willing to donate to the project, which led to training for teachers at the school sponsored by the Putera Sampoerna Foundation.
As a next step, GIB plans to conduct monthly meetings with various community-based movements to share community-based education initiatives. “I believe that with the monthly meetings, we can get more information and ideas on how to solve the problems. If people in all cities in Indonesia work together, I believe the movement will have a bigger impact,” he added. Komunitas 1001Buku, a library group that provides books to children across nation, has been operating for 10 years.
“So far, we’ve distributed around 37,000 books to hundreds of community libraries nationwide,” said volunteer Ama Erithia, who is also treasurer of the group. Ama said that her group did not randomly distribute books across the country. “We apply the SPD [sort-pack-distribute] policy. First, we sort and select which books are appropriate for Indonesian children. Then, we pack them up — at least 125 books per carton — before sending the boxes to our community library network across Indonesia,” said Ama, adding that the group was affiliated to 130 community libraries in the country.
Besides sending off the books, Komunitas 1001Buku also organizes workshops to enhance the quality of the community libraries in its network. “Once a year, or once every two years, we hold a workshop in a region to train local community libraries effective ways to revitalize their libraries,” said Ama. She revealed that the workshop was important because it was tricky to keep a library up and running if the owner did nothing beyond providing books. “Kids get bored so easily. If they’re bored with your library, they won’t come again, and your library will close down.”
In the workshop, the group trains library owners on how to host a storytelling session or a drawing or writing contest once in a while to maintain their customers, she added. The group mainly aims at equal access to good quality reading for all Indonesian children. One of its missions is to increase children’s interest in books and reading. Ama said that her group was approaching its goal. “We’ve been doing quite well. After some years, we learned that most Indonesian kids have a strong interest in reading. So, if some say that our children are too lazy to read, it’s not necessarily true.
“In fact, they are hungry for reading material,” she added. Rotaract (Rotary in Action) Semanggi, a Rotary-sponsored service club for young adults, has been doing social activities, including in the field of education, for 26 years. Its activities include organizing book donations, English classes for elementary school pupils, hosting flood prevention workshops at an elementary school in Jakarta and conducting a storytelling session at the juvenile correctional facility in Tangerang.
“Our goal is to make a positive contribution for a better Indonesia. We do what we can to fix things, including education,” Rotaract Semanggi public relations director Muhammad Fikri told the Post. In the English for children sessions, for example, Rotaract Semanggi volunteers teach the subject to needy children around its base camp, the Shangri-La hotel, every two weeks. “The flood prevention workshop plays a significant role for school kids in Jakarta, because the natural disaster has become a regular occurrence in the capital. It is important for school kids to be aware about flooding and know how to prevent it,” said Fikri.
The social services club believes the workshop gives effective skills in flood prevention to face challenges in life, which is an aim of education. Education expert Arief Rachman lauded constructive initiatives by communities. He emphasized that problems in education were problems for all Indonesians to work on. “It is not just the government’s job to handle our education. So, if there are communities with good ideas, for example establishing an educational institution, for the betterment of our education, let them be,” said Arief. He said that plenty of religious-based communities had established notable schools.
Arief also voiced appreciation for corporations that donated toward education. “However, the togetherness should not be overwhelming; we still need a clear standard in producing good education,” he said, adding that any collaboration should steer clear of corruption. “The public should take part in supervising.” Another education expert, Bambang Irianto, urged all communities to maintain good communication with education offices. “After all, education offices have the authority in education, so it’s wise to always tell them first before starting any project.”
After more than 30 years of contributing to education and giving aid, Bambang said that community-based initiatives had brought about significant changes in Indonesian education. “I have personally seen more teachers change their paradigm of teaching after taking part in a teacher training session [organized by communities]. They used to think that reaching a target on a daily basis was enough. “Now they fully understand that a teacher’s job is not just transferring knowledge but also building good character in their students,” said Bambang, who is involved in a teachers’ development program at the Putera Sampoerna Foundation. According to foundation data, there are about 3 million teachers spread across the country. Despite the requirement to have a bachelor’s degree, not all school teachers do.
source : the jakarta post
source : the jakarta post
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