Garut People’s School teaches pupils about digital technology

Garut (ANTARA) – The Integrated People’s School 39 in Garut regency, West Java, is teaching pupils about digital technology as an early step in preparing the next generation to face technological change and seize the opportunities it brings.

“Digital lessons are continually introduced at this People’s School, and the pupils are very enthusiastic about them,” said Andi Yasir Habibi, head of People’s School 39 in Garut, at the school in Samarang district on Monday.

He said the first cohort at the Garut People’s School comprises 75 pupils: 25 at primary level and 50 at junior secondary level. All were selected from low-income families or had dropped out of school.

“Digital learning is already in place here. Every child has a laptop, and each classroom has a smart board. The teachers are also equipped to use digital teaching media,” he said.

He said the digital learning system had helped motivate pupils to study, as lessons tend to involve practical work using laptops.

Each junior secondary pupil is provided with a laptop to support lessons in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), as well as Coding and Artificial Intelligence (KKA). These subjects are taught once a week.

“When you see the children learning, you can feel their joy. They enjoy studying with digital media,” he said.

Pupils who previously did not know how to operate digital devices such as laptops can now use them and have begun learning basic ICT, he said.

“As an informatics teacher, I hope the children can develop a more advanced understanding of how laptops and the internet work, and how they should position themselves in the digital world,” he said.

Raihan, a junior secondary pupil at the Garut People’s School, said he was happy to learn digitally using a laptop and study ICT.

He said he had previously known little about ICT, but now understood more and was keen to continue learning, with the hope of becoming an expert in digital technology.

“I hope I can become a programmer, because the lessons are fun and the teacher explains things in a way that is easy to understand,” Raihan said.