The socialization event was a follow-up of the regional facilitators’ reflections (Fasilitator daerah, or Fasda) held on 18 and 19 January 2020, in Laipori, which was facilitated by the Teachers and Education Personnel (Guru dan Tenaga Kependidikan, or GTK) and fully funded by the East Sumba District Education Office through the regional budget (APBD).

The socialization event was attended by the Head of Division and Head of Section for GTK from the Education Office, Head of Division and Head of Section for Elementary School Development, the INOVASI team in East Sumba, 50 regional facilitators throughout East Sumba for Early Grade Literacy (funded by APBD and INOVASI), Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) (in partnership with Sulinama), Multigrade Learning, and Inclusive Education (in partnership with CIS Timor).

The East Sumba District Education Office reaffirmed its commitment to continue the programs that has been initiated in collaboration with INOVASI. This was reflected in the Education Office’s decision to take over the assistance of INOVASI’s partner schools—six Early Grade Literacy Program partner schools and four Multigrade Program partner schools—through APBD funding.

In addition, the Education Office will fund the development of partner schools for the INOVASI partnership program, which is MTB-MLE and Inclusive Education, where each program will assist nine schools. However, the number of schools that will continued to be developed depends on the available budget, the availability of regional facilitators in the designated program area, and each individual school’s commitment.

During the socialization event, the participants discussed establishing a coordination area or working area for the regional facilitators in East Sumba to facilitate coordination and transfer of information among themselves. The 22 sub-districts in East Sumba will be divided into four coordination areas based on the distance between sub-districts. Several core or regency Fasda will be appointed from the regional facilitators. The training of regional facilitators will no longer be centered in Waingapu City; it will now be carried out in each coordination area and facilitated by the district Fasda.

A special focal point will also be established in each sub-district for Inclusive Education, Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education, and Multigrade Learning. The focal point will be assigned to assist a partner school in need. The school will be provided with special training on these three issues. Each school’s needs will be identified and determined through the Exploration and Synthesis of Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) conducted by INOVASI, an approach that uses local solutions for local challenges.

Concurrently, the design of the APBD KKG strengthening program, which was planned at the end of February 2020, will focus on strengthening literacy materials and integrating materials in the Early Grade Literacy (Literasi Kelas Awal, or LKA) materials with the themes and Basic Competencies (Kompetensi Dasar, or KD) of the 2013 Curriculum (K13). The integration of the module will also adjust to the needs of each assisted school for the implementation of the Inclusive Education Program, Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education, and Multigrade Learning.

The implementation of the LKA module integrated with K13 will be outlined in the form of a school program that includes an educational calendar, annual program, semester program, and a mechanism for measuring the development of reading and writing skills on a regular basis. This is expected to be part of the school supervisor’s task, who will supervise and monitor the implementation of literacy in schools.