Strengthening Education from the Grassroots Through the Binar Asa Programme
Amid the government’s efforts to accelerate national education transformation, the challenge of equalising education quality remains a shared concern. Although access to education in Indonesia continues to improve according to the 2025 Education Statistics published by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and the 2025/2026 Education Data Overview from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), improving teacher quality, equalising learning facilities, and cross-sector collaboration remain urgent needs.
Driven by this spirit, Alazka Care, a social institution under the Al-Azhar Kelapa Gading Foundation (ALAZKA), introduced the Binar Asa Programme. This is a community empowerment movement integrating education, health, and teacher capacity building through collaboration between volunteers, the business sector, and the community. The programme carries the spirit of ‘Empowered Teachers, Champion Students’, with the belief that quality education is built not only through policy but also through real action at the community level.
From November 2025 to June 2026, Binar Asa carried out three series of actions at the Insan Kamil kindergarten, TPQ, and early childhood education centre in Kalimanggis Village, Manonjaya District, Tasikmalaya Regency, West Java. Activities began with a community needs assessment, followed by the distribution of various learning facilities, digital learning media training for teachers, health education, light classroom renovations, and strengthening of Posyandu services.
The peak of the activity took place on 23 June 2026, involving 30 volunteers comprising teachers and education staff from ALAZKA, parents, and community members. Together with residents, the volunteers renovated early childhood and kindergarten classrooms, decorated the learning environment, held discussions on improving teacher competency with the Insan Kamil Foundation, handed over learning equipment grants, donated medical equipment to the Posyandu, and distributed baby porridge to support toddler nutrition.
The programme was also supported by Wijaya Kusuma Hospital in Kuningan, West Java, PT Teknik Boga Utama, and PT Wings Food, as a form of cross-sector collaboration to support the improvement of education quality and public health.
In an official statement, the Chairman of the Al-Azhar Kelapa Gading Foundation, Irsan Nurfaqih Sjamhudi, said that education is a long-term social investment that requires the involvement of all elements of the nation. ‘We believe that the quality of Indonesian education will grow when schools, families, the business world, and the community move together. Binar Asa is not just a social service activity, but a long-term social investment to build a stronger, more inclusive, and empowered education ecosystem. Every teacher who develops will give birth to more children who have the opportunity to achieve their best future,’ said Irsan Nurfaqih.
According to him, Alazka Care wants to expand the meaning of education so that it does not only take place in the classroom, but is also present through a sustainable community empowerment movement. A similar sentiment was shared by Syahidin, a volunteer and education staff member at ALAZKA. He admitted that the experience of participating in Binar Asa gave him a new perspective on the meaning of education. ‘This is an experience I will not forget. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a volunteer for Binar Asa and to be able to help improve the learning environment and share with the students at the Insan Kamil Quran kindergarten, Taman Pendidikan Quran, and early childhood education centre in Manonjaya,’ he said. From this activity, he learned that everyone, regardless of their profession, can contribute to advancing education if it is done sincerely and together.
In addition to field actions, Alazka Care also continues to build a culture of literacy and research through various educational programmes, including the Alazka Bincang Literasi dan Riset, as a collaborative space for educators, academics, and the community to encourage educational innovation. For Alazka Care, Binar Asa is not just a social programme, but a collaboration model that brings together schools, families, communities, volunteers, and the business sector to strengthen education from the grassroots level. The programme is expected to inspire more parties to work together to build a higher quality, inclusive, and sustainable education system in Indonesia.
Alazka Care is a social institution under the Al-Azhar Kelapa Gading Foundation (ALAZKA) engaged in humanitarian, education, health, community empowerment, and environmental fields. Through various collaborative programmes, Alazka Care is committed to delivering sustainable social impact to realise a more independent, healthy, intelligent, and empowered Indonesian society. The programme is part of efforts to improve teacher competency while strengthening the equal distribution of education quality in remote areas.