Lestari Moerdijat: Multiparty Collaboration Key to Catching Up on Literacy

Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat has urged an increase in the role of regional governments in multiparty collaboration to build literacy skills and develop a reading culture across the country. “Programmes to improve public literacy must not run in isolation. Central government efforts must be supported by regional governments and the community. Synergy between the relevant parties must be strengthened with concrete action,” she said in a written statement on Friday (19/6).

Head of the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpusnas), E. Aminudin, during a book review event on Literacy in the Regions: Reality and Library Policy Strategies on Thursday (18/6), stressed that regional governments hold a strategic role as the frontline in efforts to improve public literacy. According to Aminudin, the development of literacy skills and reading culture fundamentally takes place in the regions.

Perpusnas recorded that the national Public Literacy Development Index in March 2026 stood at 40.6, which falls into the low category (on a scale of 30-49.9). Meanwhile, the national Reading Interest Level was recorded at 54.80, placing it in the medium category (40.1-60).

According to Lestari, these figures must be addressed through massive and sustained multiparty collaboration. Rerie, as she is familiarly known, stated that the main issue of literacy in Indonesia is not merely a lack of interest in reading. Massive support is needed to build a good reading ecosystem from an early age. The low level of availability and accessibility of quality reading materials, stressed Rerie, who is also a member of House Commission X, must be immediately addressed with concrete steps.

Rerie encouraged library services to reach down to the village level. The senior NasDem Party politician expressed her hope that libraries could become community activity centres, not just places to store books. Furthermore, she asserted that education agencies must be able to integrate literacy development teaching into both the curriculum and extracurricular activities at educational institutions. “Now is the momentum to act. The nation needs an intelligent generation with character, and that begins with literacy skills,” Rerie concluded.