On 6 June 2020, the NTB Reading Consortium held a webinar discussion on literacy entitled, “Literacy in the Era of Disruption.” This online discussion presented several literacy activists as the main speakers. These activists have been working hard to develop a literacy culture within NTB society. The speakers included Deehati, founder of the community called Buku Ini Aku Pinjam (BIAP) meaning, “I am Borrowing This Book,” followed by Nursyida Syam from the North Lombok regency (KLU) Women’s Reading Club (Klub Baca Perempuan), and Jamaluddin Abdullah from Madrasah (Islamic school) Sayang Ibu. In addition to these literacy activists, the Head of the NTB Provincial Education Office (Kadis), Dr. H. Aidy Furqan, S.Pd., M.Pd., and the Head of the NTB Reading Consortium, Dr. L. Sirajul Hadi, M.Pd., also spoke during the webinar.
On this occasion, the literacy activists shared many ideas and experiences of what they have done so far in their respective communities. Deehati, who had the honor of speaking first, explained the importance of paying attention to the issue of digital literacy. According to her, literacy activists must be able to adapt to this new technology as BIAP has done. Meanwhile, Nursyidah Syam from the NTB Women’s Reading Club spoke about the importance of reading and literacy for women, especially during this pandemic.
Another speaker, Jamaluddin Abdullah from Madrasah Sayang Ibu, gave a presentation about today’s reading challenges and how to overcome them. During his session, Dr. L. Sirajul Hadi, M.Pd., explained the existing challenges in the world of literacy today.
More than 150 people participated in this webinar. They not only came from West Nusa Tenggara province, but also from other provinces. The committee noted that there were even participants from Papua and Aceh provinces. This webinar is the first activity held by the NTB Reading Consortium since they were first established in February 2020.
The NTB Reading Consortium has existed for long. The initiative started in February 2020 from a series of meetings attended by literacy activists and movers, community organizations, communities, businesses, and universities. The INOVASI program for NTB played an important part in this initiative. This was as stated by the Head of the NTB Reading Consortium, Dr. L. Sirajul Hadi, M.Pd., when giving his presentation during the literacy webinar (4/6/2020).
“The NTB Reading Consortium was initially birthed by INOVASI, which had initiated a series of discussions involving various institutions, organizations, figures, and literacy activists in NTB. This is a gathering place for us, which is open and inclusive,” said Sirajul Hadi.
According to Sri Widuri, INOVASI’s provincial manager for NTB, the government has given a lot of effort to ensure that all children in NTB have basic literacy and numeracy skills, but the results are still far from expected. INOVASI feels that there is a need to encourage the government to mobilize all other elements in NTB to support this effort. As a first step, INOVASI seeks to build awareness among various parties, including civil society organizations and the private sector, about the current learning crisis, especially the lack of basic literacy and numeracy among state elementary school (SD) or Islamic elementary school (MI) students in NTB.
Basic Literacy is still a serious problem in NTB Province. This is a complex problem that requires the involvement of various parties to solve it.
This activity was followed by a discussing about the root of the problem, some of the potential local solutions, and what role civil society organizations and the private sector can play. This process successfully raised awareness among civil society organizations and local NGOs and ultimately triggered them to build a joint movement to support the government, especially for basic literacy. In the end, the NTB Reading Consortium was born.
The webinar definitely produced momentum for the NTB Reading Consortium to introduce itself to the community, especially to community groups that care about literacy issues. The Head of the NTB Provincial Education Office, Dr. H Aidy Furqan, S.Pd., M.Pd., who was present at that time, was asked to launch the NTB Reading Consortium.
During his speech, Aidy Furqan expressed his joy over the presence of the NTB Reading Consortium, hoping that there would be positive collaboration to develop literacy in NTB in the future.
“The Education Office has actually long provided service to oversee the development of literacy programs in schools. When the consortium later grows bigger, the schools that we have coached in terms of literacy can also get together and get more intense guidance from the consortium,” said Aidy.
He also expressed his hope that the NTB Reading Consortium could create activities that would encourage innovations in education, especially those related to basic literacy.
The hopes and request made by Dr. H Aidy Furqan, S.Pd., M.Pd., were warmly welcomed by the Head of the NTB Reading Consortium. According to him, this consortium was established due to concern and a desire to contribute to educational issues, especially literacy in NTB, that also known as the Island of a Thousand Mosques. This is especially important given that the literacy condition in this province is still lacking, ranking 24th out of 34 provinces in Indonesia.
“This is not anyone’s fault, but it is the responsibility of us all. If all of us can contribute according to our own capacities and roles, there is so much that we can do. There are no less than 39 institutions and communities that are members of this consortium. We have gathered together, because we have the same passion and concern and vision to see that the literacy ranking in NTB improves in the not-too-distant future,” said Aidy Furqan.
The NTB Reading Consortium realizes that there have been many literacy movers and activists working throughout our society. Institutions and communities that have shared their ideas and stories in this webinar are real-life examples of how people are working. They have been building community literacy with their respective abilities and limitations.
The presence of this consortium is expected to consolidate literacy movers and activists so that they can work more optimally. There is also hope that the presence and involvement of the business, community, universities, and provincial governments in this consortium will open opportunities for positive collaboration and cooperation. With the increasing number of parties moving together, many things can, hopefully, be done in the future.