Ministry of Education and Culture: Revitalisation programme aims to enhance learning experience
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikdasmen) has stated that the school revitalisation programme is not just a physical project, but a major mandate from the people for the future of the nation’s children.
Deputy Minister of Education and Culture (Wamendikdasmen) Atip Latipulhayat said that the school revitalisation programme aims to create a more enjoyable learning environment through in-depth, humanistic, and contextual learning methods for students.
“This is a mandate entrusted to us by the community, by our people. We must oversee this together because it comes from people’s taxes,” said Wamendikdasmen Atip in a written statement in Jakarta on Thursday.
He made the statement during a working visit to South Sumatra to review the implementation of priority education programmes at SD Negeri 06 Indralaya, SMP Olahraga Negeri Sriwijaya (SONS) and SMA Negeri 21 Palembang.
Atip then reminded the importance of integrity in managing the allocated budget precisely.
“Everything has been calculated to ensure optimal results. There should be no more incorrect practices in planning or fee supervision,” he added.
The government, he continued, has chosen a self-managed scheme in the revitalisation to foster a sense of responsibility from the school. Deputy Minister Atip explained that this step has proven to be efficient.
From a budget of around Rp16.9 trillion, the government, through his ministry, has succeeded in increasing the reach from 13,400 to around 16,150 schools throughout Indonesia in a short time, namely about 4-5 months.
However, he also suggested that local resources and universities should be involved more optimally to boost the local economy.
“We want to see how many local workers can be absorbed through this self-managed programme. This is what we will continue to evaluate,” he said.
In addition to infrastructure, Atip also highlighted the importance of accurate Basic Education Data (Dapodik). He emphasised the importance of honesty in filling in data that does not correspond to the facts.
Starting his visit at SD Negeri 06 Indralaya, Atip also reviewed the mathematics class and had a direct dialogue with the teachers.
He also suggested that mathematics teaching should no longer be just about numbers, but through narratives that are relevant to everyday life.
“I urge teachers to start providing contextual mathematics problems. Make learning in-depth but still enjoyable,” said Atip.
On that occasion, he also encouraged students to be brave in speaking without being afraid of making grammatical mistakes.
“English is not just a foreign language, but an international language and the language of science. This is a necessity. My suggestion to teachers is to use English fully in class because the language needs to be practised to become familiar,” he said.