Article 33 Indonesia together with the Inspirasi Foundation successfully held a Development Study Forum (FKP) with the theme "Quality Teachers and Teaching, Can They Improve the Capabilities of Students in Disadvantaged Areas?". FKP is a research-based policy study consortium on topics related to development issues. Periodically, this agenda is held alternately by institutions in Indonesia and in collaboration with The Indonesia Project from the Australian National University (ANU). On this occasion, the FKP event supported by the William and Lily Foundation and the Adaro Bangun Negeri Foundation was held online on Thursday (15/9/2022) presenting Salsabila Kusumawardani as Article 33 Indonesia Researcher and Fikri Yansyah as Program Manager from the Inspirasi Foundation.
Executive Director of Article 33 Indonesia, Santoso said that the study based on learning activities in the Southwest Sumba region would describe the conditions of education implementation in underdeveloped regions of Indonesia. Apart from that, the study prepared is also related to the results of the National Assessment which was published on April 1 2020.
The results of the National Assessment from the Ministry of Education and Culture concluded that the literacy and numeracy skills of students in Indonesia are relatively low. In general, it is recorded that 1 in 2 students in Indonesia have literacy skills below minimum competency. Meanwhile, 2 out of 3 students were recorded as having numeracy skills below the minimum competency. This situation is also in line with international studies, including PISA (2018) which explains that of the 79 participating countries, the literacy and numeracy abilities of students in Indonesia are ranked in the bottom 10.
"The results of the National Assessment and international studies reflect that there are still serious challenges in efforts to improve students' literacy and numeracy skills in Indonesia. the impact of barriers to face-to-face learning during the pandemic also resulted learning loss”. Said Santoso who gave an introduction to the discussion.
Condition learning loss resulting in a decline in students' academic knowledge and skills during the pandemic. Therefore, this study carried out by Article33 and the Inspiration Foundation is considered important for formulating various learning recovery efforts. These include the implementation of the independent curriculum program and driving schools which involve various education providers at both local and national levels.
In presenting the results of the study, Salsabila Kusumawardani explained that apart from the characteristics of students who have similar literacy and numeracy skills, there are also cases of students' lack of ability to use Indonesian in the Kodi Bangedo District, Southwest Sumba Regency. Under these conditions, learning based on the curriculum cannot be implemented optimally. Apart from that, the use of learning reference books in Indonesian cannot be carried out effectively so that most learning activities revolve around learning to read, write and count.
"Apart from being hampered by mastery of Indonesian, teacher motivation is also something that must be considered. Based on the results of the study, teachers with Civil Servant (PNS) status have above average enthusiasm, this indicates that job security for teachers, it is important to increase teacher motivation in implementing learning activities." he said.
On the next presentation agenda, Fikri Yansyah explained that one of the intervention programs run by the Inspirasi Foundation was the School Principal and Teacher Work Promise program which was implemented based on knowledge and input from the Education Department, which had a positive impact on student literacy and numeracy learning outcomes. Apart from that, the Inspiration Foundation team also provides training on academic supervision, pedagogical knowledge and school principal leadership management.
“Job Promise is a program that has a unique approach to solving unique problems in the region. The work promise in the first year is carried out by the Principal and Teachers of Grades 1-3 of Elementary Schools (SD) which is formulated based on data on children's learning outcomes assisted by a recording format from the Inspiration Team and ratified by the principal with the knowledge of the regional Education Office. As for monitoring of the Promise Work is carried out in cycles of 1-2 months thereafter. "In the following year, it will be implemented by each school principal." he concluded.
The Job Promise Program encourages school principals and teachers to get used to holding meetings, discussions and reflections involving other parties including parents of students, school committees and village governments so that it is hoped that awareness will arise from school principals and teachers to understand further the conditions of students. as well as learning activities at school.
Fikri also said that the results of the work promise program over the past year indicated an increase in literacy skills from previously 66.2% of grade 2 elementary school students in Kodi Bangedo Regency who did not know letters to this year's achievement where 88.2% of students were able to read syllables and words. which consists of 3-5 letters. On the other hand, the increase in numeracy skills of students with the condition 71% who did not know numbers in the previous year experienced improvement in this year with the number 64.7% students who already know numbers and are able to order numbers so it can be concluded that the job promise program has a positive impact on the implementation of quality learning in underdeveloped regions.
Furthermore, in the discussion between speakers and participants guided by Safira Ryanatami from Article 33 Indonesia, she discussed that improving the literacy and numeracy skills of students in disadvantaged areas can be done with local conditions such as the use of regional language books and methods. story telling with Indonesian as an effort to get used to speaking Indonesian. The work promise program encourages the formation of a forum for evaluating and supervising the implementation of learning activities independently and sustainably for school principals and teachers so as to minimize the impact of unequal access to technology and information in disadvantaged areas. Apart from that, there are suggestions for the continuation of future studies that require a wider sample as a means of describing the conditions of students at various levels of education.
It is known that this FKP activity was attended by various groups including the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology, Indonesia Mengajar, The Conversation Indonesia, Ruang Guru, as well as students from Padjadjaran University, Bandung Institute of Technology, Pertamina University and UIN Sayyid Ali Rahmatullah Tulungagung. [HRS]
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