The event was attended by Bupati from Sumenep, Pasuruan, Sidoarjo, Probolinggo, and the Mayor of Batu. Representatives from the East Java and Regency/City education service offices, as well as the provincial and district Ministry of Religious Affairs office, also participated.
“Indonesia and Australia have been working together for many years to strengthen the education system in Indonesia. Australia believes that educational quality is of great importance to Indonesia, contributing directly to economic growth and a competitive workforce. The INOVASI program is an important partnership between the governments of Australia and Indonesia. Working with local government, schools and teachers in diverse classrooms and schools across the country, including East Java, INOVASI aims to strengthen the quality of teaching and learning, specifically in literacy and numeracy,” said Michelle Lowe, Counsellor for Human Development from the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.
Mark Heyward, INOVASI’s Program Director, explained how the program works to understand and overcome learning challenges, particularly those related to literacy and numeracy. “We believe that East Java offers enormous potential to help INOVASI answer the question ‘what does and doesn’t work to improve learning outcomes’, of course keeping local context in mind.”
Totok Suprayitno, Head of the Research and Development directorate at the Ministry of Education and Culture, further emphasized the importance of educational quality. “Current demands are not how much students study, but how competent they are to be able to play an important and superior role in global relations. One of them is by increasing innovation. ”
The implementation of the INOVASI program in East Java was certified in collective and cooperation agreements signed between the Ministry of Education and Culture, East Java provincial government, East Java provincial Ministry of Religious Affairs, and each of INOVASI’s five partner districts including Batu City Government, Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Sidoarjo and Sumenep. This took place on 8 August 2018.
To oversee program activities, an East Java provincial level Steering Committee and technical team was formed.
District and city level INOVASI partners will play a key role in the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of activities, to ensure smooth implementation.
In East Java Province, INOVASI is currently implementing 13 education pilots, focused on literacy, numeracy, leadership and multi grade learning. Several pilots are implemented in partnership with a range of education associations and organizations, including Surabaya State University, Surabaya Nahdatul Ulama University, Sunan Ampel Surabaya Islamic State University, Binas Nusantara University, and the ‘Meaningful Literacy Collaboration’.
At today’s event, five chosen teacher and principal representatives from partner districts and cities will display their teaching innovations and learnings, gained after participating in INOVASI’s pilots. These five teachers and principals include: Job (principal from Parasrejo 2 primary school in Pasuruan); Qoriatul Azizah (teacher from SDN Punten 1 primary school Kota Batu); Taskiyah (teacher from SDN Pangarangan 1 primary school Sumenep); Endang Kusniati (teacher from SDN Gelam 2 primary school Sidoarjo); and Nurhani Khukmiyati (teacher from SD Insan Terpadu Paiton primary school, Probolinggo).