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Magelang: Community Participation Shows Results
Having participated in MBS training in Magelang, and visited a number of MBE target schools in Batu, several schools and committees at Magelang started to change. One of them is SD 7. Ibu Wuryaning, the principal and Ibu Heni Hernawan, a committee member, discussed the possibility of establishing Parents’ Sub-Groups, as part of the Parents’ Group, with responsibility for each class. This was inspired by the parents groups they saw in Batu.
Another thing that they are proud of is Ibu Mutrifah, a school committee member who has children in grades 4 and 6. In her capacity as manager of BMT Gema Insani Islamic Bank in Magelang she offered to open a kiosk for services to students every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the break time. This offer was welcomed by the school, and was explained to the students on Saturday, November 19, 2005. By Monday 21 November out of a total of 425 students, 190 had registered with total deposits of Rp.871,000. BMT itself didn’t expect such enthusiasm. Without any incentives being offered, the average amount each student deposited was between Rp.1.000 – 5.000, and it is estimated that, over the period of a month, deposits could reach about Rp.10 million.
Ibu Heni and Ibu Mutrifah explained that the students in grades 1-5 are saving money to buy additional learning materials (books, stationary, etc.), and grade 6 are saving in preparation for entering junior secondary school (SMP). This is good because it creates good saving habits, and raises the students’ awareness of the banking system.
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Two students depositing part of their pocket money with the BMT Gema Insani staff, watched by (left to right) Ibu Wuryaning, SD 7 Magelang Principal, Ibu Heni, School Committee and Ibu Mutrifah, the BMT Magelang Bank.
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An activity that involved parental participation at SMP 7 Magelang was “Career Day” to which guest speakers were invited, mainly graduates of the school, parents or prominent local peronalities. The speakers explained about their careers or work.
In the photo on the right, you can see Ibu AKP R. Lahari, Samapta Section Head of the local police. She is a parent of Maulana a grade 7B student. She explained about the tasks and responsibilities of police officers, police institutions, and how to become a police officer. This provided additional information and insights for the students.
Bpk Papa Riyadi, SMP 7’s Principal explained that this is a routine activity to enrich student understanding and knowledge.
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School Committee Action at Pasuruan Petamanan SDN
Concerned…! That is an appropriate description of the members of the school committee of SDN Petamanan. Since it was established the school committee has been working hard to improve the quality of education. One of their achievements in 2004 was the collection of funds through a reunion of former students to provide chairs for the library. In 2005 they collected funds amounting to Rp.11 million from the wealthier parents, especially parents of grade 1 students, after publicizing their program to build new toilets.
The school committee’s role is not only limited to material aid. They also offer themselves as resource persons and speakers. For instance they helped the students to learn how to make soya bean cakes (tempe and tape) and they help with extracurricular activities like samroh, and Al-Qur’an reading, art and “pencak silat” (traditional self-defense).
The emergence of School Operational Funding (BOS) has created the impression that school will no longer need additional funding. Under the leadership of Bpk Sumardijarsa, who believes that “education is so important that there is no such thing as too much funding for education” the school committee of SDN Petamanan has continued to gather funds from the wealthier parents. As a result they were able to buy furniture for grade 1 at a cost of Rp.15 million.
This active participation was in line with the MBS program, including transparent school management, for example, in making the school budget. The school committee, principal, teachers, administrative staff, support staff, supervisors and the head of the village drew up the school budget together. Because of this, and the concern shown by the school committee, it is hoped that the quality of the school will soon improve.
By Ms. Mudji Etik, Petamanan SD Principal, Pasuruan
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KEBUMEN: Community Participation at Ambalkliwon
The Principal of SDN Amalkliwonan in Ambal, Kebumen has sent reports to Dinas P&K for over a year requesting the repair of the severely damaged roof of their classrooms. But the repairs were never carried out.
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From left to right: BpkSubandi (Village Head Ambalkliwonan), Bpk Suratman (Principal of SDN Ambalkliwonan), BpkTutur (School Committee Head) and Ibu Alfiah Anggraeni (Head Administration at Kebumen Education Office) in front of SDN Ambalkliwonan.
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A large number of the roof tiles were damaged and when it rained the students had to chnge rooms. The roof supports were also damaged and it was feared the roof could fall in and injure the students.
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