Harold van Grinsven (chairman) and Marlôt Fliers (secretary) of the RSP foundation visited Jayapura in the month of july. During their stay, their activities consisted mainly of information exchange and consultation with the education team of SIL (Suluh Insan Lestari), which is part of SIL International.
State of affairs and the current situation
The ACDP project (The Education project group: “Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership), which started in 2015, has ended in June 2017. It is assumed that schools are now independently capable of shaping the progress of their education. Education team SIL would like to coach and accompany these schools, but are yet to receive financial compensation for this.
This complicates the implementation of Lani- and Bahasa Indonesia education. The implementation is also partly impeded due to the fact that the promised teachers did not show up last year. Initially, the government had promised these teachers, but for various reasons there are still no additional teachers. Only 6 schools of the 13 villages have a teacher from their own community.
The 6 schools mentioned above: SD and Paud Mume, SD and Paud Alia / Luarem, SD Kuyawage 1, Paud Upaga, Paud Tinime and Paud Ndugu – Ndugu, have a solar system and 13 or 14 tablets per school. In addition, the Guesthouse coordinator in Mume has a solar system, lamps, laptop and printer. With the help of education team SIL, the tablets and solar systems have been installed. It is notable to see that students can use the tablets within a week. The tablets contain 7 apps (including app kataku) and 100 books in Bahasa Lani and Bahasa Indonesia, including 30 spoken books. Both teachers and students make use of the tablets in a highly enthusiastic and motivated way.
Unfortunately SIL’s education team did not have the opportunity to regularly visit Kuyawage due to a closed runway and the late delivery of the solar systems at the end of last year. The motivation of the team members was thus influenced by the above circumstances. No financial support and no new teachers does not invite development and supervision of the other schools in Kuyawage. When asked what their experience was in terms of using the solar systems and the tablets, they indicated that the children could handle the tablet fairly quickly and that it had a positive effect on their learning process. The solar systems live up to their expectations and were easy to install and maintain.
In the meantime SIL has focused on other remote areas and Sunday schools, with the Kira and Mek – Kosarek area in particular. These areas have little or no schools and education is primarily given at the Sunday school. The SIL education team has experienced that the teachers in these areas are motivated and interested in PAUD schools and multilingual education. Since July 2018, a regulation has been introduced that pupils in the future can only be admitted to SD if they can submit a Paud certificate. These teachers from the Paud schools must have a basic teacher training. Only then can Paud schools be registered with the government and apply for a subsidy. This development creates a future perspective for education in Papua in general.
Support for the RSP foundation
The RSP foundation has so far supplied 7 solar systems and 80 tablets (60 Advan tablets and 20 Lenovo tablets) that are being used at the 6 schools. In the year 2016 a printer, 2 laptops and more than 35 lamps were also given to the teachers. However, there are some practical issues that need to be dealt with such as the installation of 2 solar systems and the purchase of 9 tablets. The supplied materials will remain the property of the 6 schools.
The RSP foundation also supplied the new app Kataku (simple Bahasa Indonesia, based on curriculum TPR) and installed the app on the tablets together with SIL’s team. This app, made by the students of Radboud University Nijmegen, has been enthusiastically received by SIL’s team and needs some changes.
Mrs. Cissy van Liempd Fliers made 15 dolls (animal figures) that can be used as a mascot for the 6 schools.
Presentation government officials 10thof July SIL Office
Present during this presentation were, on behalf of the government officials, the Secretary of Papua Office of Education, Mr. Protasius Lobya, and the head of elementary education department of Papua province, Mr. Desman Kogoya.
The purpose of the presentation to the government officials was twofold:
a) Inform the government officials about the project activities of SIL and the RSP foundation with the emphasis on the impact and return of the activities undertaken over the past 3 years;
b) Focusing on the importance of education in the remote areas with the help of an introduction of multilingual education (Mother Tongue Based Education) using digital teaching materials.
The presentations were quite extensive presentations, where the opportunity was given to ask interim questions. Also present was educational supporter Mr Gerson Mulikma, who works as a volunteer at a school in the Mek-Kororek area. The latter gave a presentation about all the activities there.
Both officials of the government were very enthusiastic and full of admiration for the results that have been achieved so far. The project has demonstrated that education is possible in these remote areas. Education team SIL and the RSP foundation have indicated that support from the government is now crucial. Mr Lobya from the government took immediate action and made commitments. The shortage of teachers will be properly addressed and at his request 11 districts, who are eligible for multilingual education and financial support, will be inventoried and approached.
On the same day, at the request of Mr. Loboya, SIL’s team and the RSP foundation had a meeting with the person responsible for the “absence” of the teachers, Mr. Christ Sohilait Secretary or Lanny Jaya Regency. He has also pledged to work on the teacher shortage.
Discussion education team SIL and the RSP foundation
The RSP foundation has indicated that proper aftercare, such as monitoring and supervision of the 6 schools in Kuyawage, is important. After all, a lot of energy and money has already been invested in the project. Education team SIL indicates that they (and especially if teachers are now available) want to take care of this aftercare. However, the financial resources are still missing. The education team SIL asked for support for this matter from RSP foundation.
There is also a demand for support for the educational content with regard to the development of new apps such as the more simplified app Kataku and a follow-up app Kataku. Marlôt Fliers has promised to make a follow-up app with the students in the new semester of 2018/2019. To this end, the team has already written a follow-up curriculum based on the already existing TPR curriculum.
Education team SIL also wondered whether the RSP foundation could offer support to other remote areas where they are currently working at the Sunday schools. See website:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzoNJwJKjbY
The board of the RSP foundation will consider these matters and will give a decision in the coming month of September.
Fliers & van Grinsven august 2018