Freedom to Learn a la Jokowi to Accelerate Education in Papua

The acceleration of Papuan education by independent learning in the style of Joko Widodo and Nadiem was again discussed in a virtual session with hundreds of school children in Merauke.

Joining directly from Anasai Village, Semangga District, Merauke Regency, Papua Province, along with hundreds of high school children – Entrepreneurship Chevalier Anasai, Presidential Staff in charge of Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Papua, Billy Mambrasar brought Joko Widodo's message for children's education -Indonesian children, especially Papuan children.

This was conveyed in a Webinar held by the Director General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture, with the title “Independence in Learning, Independent Campus.”

The event was attended by the Director General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture of Higher Education, Prof. Ir. Nizam and Chairman of Commission X DPR RI, H. Syaiful Huda.

"We can see that more than Rp500 trillion has been disbursed by President Joko Widodo in the 2022 APBN draft for education, above infrastructure, and other sectors," said Presidential Special Staff Billy Mambrasar, Monday (30/8/2021).

Specifically for Papua, he said, the President ordered through Presidential Instruction No. 9 of 2020 concerning the Acceleration of Welfare Development in the Provinces of Papua and West Papua, that education, especially the development of Papuan Indigenous People (OAP), should be a priority.

"Thank you and my appreciation to the government. My full support for the advancement of education and human resources (HR) in the 3T region, especially Eastern Indonesia," said Brother Yoseph Silvanus Daempal, the Headmaster who focuses on Entrepreneurship in Southern Papua.

"The children here are very interested in learning and enthusiastic about the attention of Pak Jokowi and Mas Nadiem for education in Eastern Indonesia," he said.

It is hoped that students will have the highest possible schooling opportunities, especially for students who live in Papua.

"Hopefully President Joko Widodo's new breakthrough will encourage more of our students to have the opportunity to go to the highest possible school, especially for our friends and younger siblings who live in Papua," said Brother Yoseph Silvanus Daempal.

The Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka (MBKM) program which was initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology is here to improve Indonesia's superior human resources equally.

Yoseph Silvanus Daempal said by providing opportunities for students from various regions to collaborate to improve their soft skills and hard skills, gain valuable experience and answer educational challenges that have been holding them back.

With this MBKM, he said, it is hoped that it can be a solution to the challenges in the 3T (Front, Outermost, and Disadvantaged) regions, especially for Eastern Indonesia.

Where, he said, in the area there are several problems that are still being faced, such as a shortage of numbers (shortage), unbalanced distribution (unbalanced distribution), qualifications below standard (under qualification), lack of competence (low competencies), and mismatch between qualifications. education with the field being taught (mismatched).

In addition to the challenges mentioned above, there are also other problems, namely; the dropout rate is relatively high, while the school enrollment rate is still low.

Therefore, he continued, improving the quality of education in the 3T regions needs to be managed specifically and seriously, especially in overcoming these problems, so that the 3T regions can immediately advance and be in line with other regions.

There are many breakthroughs that have been made through the Instruction of President Joko Widodo, and the initiative of the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, Nadiem Makarim, through this MBKM to advance Papuan Education.

These include an increase in the School Operational Assistance Budget (BOS), additional teacher recruitment through PNS and PPPK formations, additional budget for school infrastructure improvements, and digital acceleration for education.

"Digital Transformation, which is encouraged by Pak Jokowi with the Acceleration of Internet Infrastructure Development, which enables today, even though they are in the interior of Papua, to greet friends throughout Indonesia in this Webinar," he said.

"Hopefully in the future, Papuan children can advance their education," said Billy Mambrasar, closing his session in the webinar," he added.

SOURCE: https://indonesiatimur.id/2021/08/31/merdeka-learning-ala-jokowi-untuk-percepatan- Pendidikan-di-papua/