KSP Provides School Bus and Raises Honorary Teacher Salaries at Special Needs School in Kendari

The Presidential Staff Office (KSP) has provided a school bus and additional salary support to honorary teachers at the Kusuma Bangsa Special Needs School (SLB) in Kendari City, Southeast Sulawesi. Special Staff to the Chief of Presidential Staff, Amar Maaruf, stated in Kendari on Saturday that the operational vehicle assistance aims to support student mobility, given the school’s location in the hilly area of Jalan Jambu, Anggoeya Village, Poasia District. “This signifies that the government is present here. We will respond to every complaint, especially urgent ones. Today we came directly to hand over the school bus assistance,” he said. He noted that before this aid, teachers at the school, established in 2014, had to pick up students one by one from their homes using motorcycles. Some students even had to be fetched on foot due to limited access. In addition to handing over the school bus, the KSP is committed to improving the welfare of the teaching staff at the school. Based on dialogue, out of a total of 12 teachers, four honorary teachers had been receiving an honorarium of approximately IDR 500,000 per month. “This assistance will be provided continuously until they obtain professional certification,” Amar Maaruf stated. During the visit, the KSP team also handed over school equipment assistance in the form of bags and books to the students. The KSP plans to build a dormitory for students so that the coaching process can run optimally, with an architectural team currently drafting the building design. He expressed hope that this support from the central government would encourage the regional government to become more concerned with improving educational facilities for children with disabilities. A Pancasila and Citizenship Education teacher at SLB Kusuma Bangsa Kendari, Sujono Said, said this assistance serves as motivation for teachers to continue serving. “For us, teaching here is not just a job, but also a calling. With this salary increase, we are certainly more motivated to provide better educational services to the children,” he said. A member of the Southeast Sulawesi Youth Caucus, Andi Aswar, assessed the KSP’s swift action as appropriate. He expressed hope that the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Government and the Kendari City Government would strengthen collaboration to improve the quality of special education in the region.