Komdigi Invites Journalists to See Education Revitalisation Results in NTT

The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) invited around 15 journalists from 15 media outlets across Indonesia to see first-hand the results of an education revitalisation programme in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), which is one of President Prabowo’s priority programmes to improve education quality.

“Today we want to invite fellow journalists, both from local media in Kupang and national outlets, to see the utilisation of the school revitalisation programme,” said Farida Dewi Maharani, Director of Media Ecosystem at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, during a visit to SD Inpres Naimata in Kupang on Tuesday.

Farida said SD Inpres Naimata, an elementary school in Kupang that received the revitalisation programme, now has many more classrooms. Previously, there were only about six or seven classrooms, but now the number has increased to around 16 to support the high number of students at the school.

“We certainly hope that this revitalisation is not just a physical development programme, but can have an impact, especially for schoolchildren. Previously, there were three shifts of teaching and learning activities, but now with the addition of classrooms, children only need to attend school from morning until noon, and we hope the quality of learning will also improve,” she said.

Kupang was chosen as a location for education revitalisation because equitable development should not only take place in Jakarta or Java, but also in eastern Indonesia, she added.

Khamim, a Senior Education Development Specialist at the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, said the budget for revitalising SDI Naimata reached Rp3.1 billion. He explained that the school revitalisation was not limited to building construction, such as adding classrooms, but also included other facilities like the addition of Digital Interactive Boards (PID) as well as the construction of toilets and other amenities.

He expressed hope that with the education revitalisation, not only would the quality of education for children improve, but the quality of teachers would also become more competent in educating the children.

Besides SDI Naimata, another school visited was SMA Negeri 8 Kupang in Alak District, where four classrooms were revitalised to improve the quality of education in the area.