Ministry of Education Strengthens Primary School Teachers' Readiness to Teach English

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Directorate General of Teachers and Education Personnel (Ditjen GTK) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology is once again organising the Sapa GTK webinar as a platform for sharing best practices and strengthening teachers’ capacity in implementing English language teaching in primary schools. Director General of Teachers and Education Personnel (Dirjen GTK) of the Ministry, Nunuk Suryani, emphasised that designating English as a compulsory subject is a strategic step to equip pupils with basic language skills from an early age. “English as a compulsory subject is our effort to equip pupils with basic English language skills. Therefore, this training aims to prepare teachers to deliver English lessons in an easy and enjoyable manner. In the long term, teachers need to continuously reflect so that learning becomes increasingly relevant to pupils’ needs,” said Nunuk in Jakarta on Thursday. She stressed the importance of ongoing support for teachers in implementing the Primary School Teacher Competency Development Programme for Teaching English (PKGSD-MBI). She also explained that the PKGSD-MBI programme targets 90,447 educational units, with training conducted in stages. In the initial stage, she said, one classroom teacher from each school, with a non-English background, particularly in schools that have not yet implemented English as an elective or compulsory subject, will represent the school. Teachers who have not participated in the training at this stage, she continued, will be included in subsequent stages. Nunuk added that teachers who have completed the training are expected to disseminate the knowledge to their peers.