MPR Deputy Chair Lestari Moerdijat Urges Measurable National Literacy Movement
MPR Deputy Chair Lestari Moerdijat is pushing for the enhancement of public literacy as the foundation for facing increasingly heavy challenges in nation-building.
Highlighting the results of the 2025 Academic Ability Test (TKA), which show that students’ textual comprehension reaches only 49.21%, the figure familiarly known as Rerie asserts that literacy is not merely the ability to read, but a bulwark of sovereignty amid the torrent of information.
“The literacy challenges in the current era are very heavy. Because it’s not just about creating a society that can merely read, but also capable of critical thinking amid the torrent of information,” said Lestari in a written statement on Wednesday (25/3).
The 2025 TKA results released by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) record that textual comprehension (students’ ability to understand vocabulary, story background, and text structure) was achieved by 49.21% of TKA participants.
Students’ inferential ability (explaining meaning relationships between sentences/paragraphs) was recorded at 43.21%, while the ability to evaluate and appreciate texts adequately was achieved by only 45.32% of participants.
These notes, according to Lestari, indicate that more than half of the student participants do not yet have a strong literacy foundation.
“This is not just a matter of numbers, but a real threat to the nation’s competitiveness and sovereignty,” emphasised Rerie, Lestari’s affectionate nickname.
Rerie, who is also a member of DPR RI Commission X, highlighted several obstacles in improving literacy, including literacy disparities between regions, the strong oral culture compared to written, relatively expensive book prices, and lack of family environmental support.
Steps that can be taken immediately, according to Rerie, include facilitating public access to books through the availability of quality books in libraries spread across Indonesia and the elimination of book-related taxes, such as VAT and taxes on paper raw materials for books.
She added that DPR RI Commission XIII is pushing for revisions to the Book Law to eliminate VAT on books.
In addition, Rerie stressed the importance of equitable distribution of quality teachers in the regions.
“Teachers are one of the literacy commanders in the field, along with the family. It’s not enough to just send teachers to the regions, but also to ensure they receive proper support and incentives,” said the member of the NasDem Party’s Supreme Council.
Rerie urged that literacy enhancement efforts become a measurable national movement. Strong collaboration between the central government, regional governments, and society must be realised to ensure the success of the literacy movement, because literacy is the foundation of national sovereignty.
“If the next generation is unable to properly analyse the torrent of every piece of information that comes, it has the potential to erode the sovereignty of Motherland,” concluded Rerie.