SDN 2 Malaka is a partner school with the Australian Government supported Innovation for Indonesia’s School Children (INOVASI) program and was affected by the 2018 August Lombok earthquake. She was accompanied by Kurniawan Ariadi, Director of Bilateral Financing, from Indonesia’s National Planning and Development Ministry (Bappenas).
During today’s school visit, Kirsten Bishop met with school teachers and stakeholders, discussing their experiences participating in INOVASI’s literacy pilot, and learning about the kinds of support they received during the ongoing earthquake recovery.
In North Lombok, prior to the events of the August 2018 Lombok earthquake, INOVASI was preparing to implement a foundational literacy pilot focused on early grades (grades one to three). Due to the damage sustained from the earthquake to partner schools, teachers and communities, the pilot underwent a change in direction. All 21 of INOVASI’s partner schools were damaged, 16 beyond repair.
When the initial early grade literacy pilot was temporarily stopped post earthquake, INOVASI looked for ways to help build schools so that children could immediately return to school. Bamboo was chosen as the primary material because it was considered safer than steel frames – and could be locally sourced. The bamboo school was intended to make children more comfortable when learning, ensuring they felt safe from any future earthquakes. INOVASI supported the construction of bamboo schools in 12 partner schools and communities.
Now, more than one year on since the earthquake, SDN 2 Malaka is preparing to move back into their newly constructed school buildings, rebuilt with support from the Kompas Humanitarian Fund Foundation.
“In the post-earthquake environment in North Lombok, INOVASI played a key role in helping students return to learning – including through the construction of Bamboo schools and safe learning spaces. Together with the local community, we can continue to strengthen literacy learning outcomes in NTB classrooms,” said Kirsten Bishop.
INOVASI’s Program Director, Mark Heyward, expressed his appreciation for the ongoing support of district stakeholders. “Since 2017, INOVASI has been working with North Lombok to improve the quality of basic education. We are grateful for the ongoing cooperation and support from the North Lombok district government, particularly after the Lombok earthquake when teaching and learning was disrupted temporarily. Together, we have helped to continue improving education.”
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For more information, please contact the INOVASI Communications Team, or visit our website, Facebook, and Youtube at the following links: www.inovasi.or.id, Facebook Inovasi untuk Anak Sekolah Indonesia, and YouTube INOVASI Pendidikan.
| Juliarti Sianturi Communications Officer (Pulau Lombok) E: juliarti.sianturi@thepalladiumgroup.com M: +62 811 9885 694 | Junaedi Uko Communications Officer (Pulau Sumbawa) E: junaedi.uko@thepalladiumgroup.com M: +62 811 3816 348 |
About INOVASI
INOVASI (Innovation for Indonesian School Children) is an Indonesian and Australian Government education partnership program that aims to find and understand ways to improve student learning outcomes – especially those related to literacy and numeracy skills, both in class and at school. Working with the Ministry of Education and Culture and Ministry of Religious Affairs, INOVASI has established partnerships with 17 districts spread across four provinces, including West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, North Kalimantan, and East Java. The program will run from 2016 – 2020 and is managed by Palladium on behalf of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
In West Nusa Tenggara Province (NTB), INOVASI is partnering with six districts namely North Lombok, Central Lombok, West Sumbawa, Sumbawa, Dompu and Bima. The launch of INOVASI in NTB Province was carried out on June 8, 2016 through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the NTB Provincial Government (the then Governor of NTB, Dr. TGB Zainul Majdi), with the Ministry of Education and Culture, represented by the Head of the Research and Development Agency (Balitbang), Totok Suprayitno. The NTB Provincial Government’s commitment was further strengthened through the signing of an MoU on October 11, 2016 with each partner district government. Various pilot programs have been implemented in the six partner district, each aiming to strengthen education quality and learning outcomes.
INOVASI pilot programs in NTB focus on a range of priority issues, including literacy, numeracy, inclusive education, mother language transition and community engagement. During the period January 2017 to June 2018, there were 387 partner schools (public and Islamic schools) across the six partner districts, with 1,158 pilot program participants consisting of teachers and principals and 272 program facilitators (Fasda).