Teachers learn about quality
Teachers learn about quality
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Depok
"When teachers take pride of what they do, then they are able to
give the best to students," said M. Achmadi, principal of a state
high school in Depok.
As part of Sampoerna Foundation's School Quality Improvement
Program (SQIP), teachers from State High School No. 3 Depok have
undergone training sessions changing the way they view their role
as educators, and the presentation of material they teach in
school.
During the paradigm shift sessions, teachers are reminded of
their role in the education of future generations, and the
importance of their choice of career.
"After all who appreciates teachers these days? If teachers do
not appreciate their own profession, no one will," sports teacher
and State High School No. 3's vice principal Benny RES said.
Besides awakening a sense of pride in teachers, they are also
trained to become more creative in delivering lessons.
"All this time teachers are highly theoretical in their
teaching, the training opened up our eyes to other methods of
delivering a scientific concept," Achmadi said, explaining that
it has also taught teachers to involve class participation, and
as a result communication between teachers and students have
become more open.
"Students then are more willing to participate actively in
class, because they are not afraid of the teacher," he added.
SQIP was first launched in March, beginning with three state
high schools in Depok, Sekayu in South Sumatra and Balikpapan in
East Kalimantan.
It is expected that by 2010 some 33 state high schools across
Indonesia will have participated in the program.
The idea was a cooperation between Sampoerna Foundation and
regional administrations to provide the schools with high quality
training for its teachers and principals in order to improve the
school's teaching and management quality.
"We designed programs to improve the management skills of the
principal, improve its school-based management, curriculum
enrichment, development of teachers, and also development of
students," Sampoerna Foundation's program and alumni affairs
director Eddy F. Henry said.
He said that while the foundation provides for training, the
regional administrations have agreed to meet the physical needs
of the school.
The training are provided in cooperation with the Singapore's
National Institute of Education and experts from top national
universities, Eddy explained.
"After three years, we expect the schools to have excellent
quality teachers, their graduates accepted at top universities,
and the school itself self sustaining with good management," Eddy
said.