Ensuring the sustainability of these good practices requires efforts and collaboration between schools and stakeholders in each region. As such, Salomi Wati, the acting principal of SD Negeri Wera state elementary school in East Sumba, encourages building collaboration between schools and several companies operating in East Sumba. This is carried out through an intermediary from the members of the school committee who are also part of these companies.
“I see that the impact of the INOVASI program is very good for our children. Seeing that INOVASI is about to end, I thought about how these past activities could be continued,” said Salomi in early 2020.
The support from donors, including companies in the agricultural sector and the hotel industry, was used to build a reading room inside the school. That idea came to Salomi after seeing a post on Facebook about a reading room. Salomi then invited the school committee to a meeting and discussed the idea. The school committee enthusiastically welcomed the idea. The local village head also welcomed the idea, especially after learning that the reading room would be available to the surrounding community—the school manages the reading room, but it can be accessed by the surrounding community and anyone who wishes to use the facility.
Kadumbul village, where SD Negeri Wera is located, already has a number of book collections, but they have not been fully utilized due to limited space in the village office. The books from the village are sorted according to the basic education level to be used in the reading room.
The reading room is a simple building with a thatched roof and wooden poles. The children sit on the cement floor, which is lined with a giant plastic snake and has a ladder board game. The reading room is filled with students. The use of the reading room is maximized with the #SabtuMembaca or #Saturdayreading policy that the school has issued. Every Saturday, students from grades 1 to 6 read together at the reading room or in other comfortable places outside the classroom. This activity is carried out at the fourth or fifth hour and is made up of two 35-minute sessions.
The teachers assist their students while they are reading. Early grade teachers apply the methods they have learned during training and mentoring with INOVASI. They use leveled books that are provided by INOVASI in addition to books that have been sorted from the village. Grouping based on reading ability in class is also applied at #SabtuMembaca.
The learning strategies applied by the teachers in the classroom and the existence of the reading room have significantly increased the students’ interest in reading. “Children who were lazy about reading have become enthusiastic about it,” said Salomi.
For teachers, INOVASI has improved their teaching capacity, especially in learning literacy in the early grades. Teachers are becoming more and more creative in developing learning methods and media. Classical methods are no longer used because the teachers are now able to shift their learning method to one that is tailored to the students’ abilities.
“The INOVASI program has helped us—both teachers and students—by providing the right strategies and learning media to make it easier for children to receive lesson material and understand the content of the reading. After understanding the reading, it’s easier for them to accept other lessons,” concluded Salomi, an elementary education bachelor’s degree who has been a teacher for more than 20 years.