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Stories from the Districts....
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SD Pati Kidul 1 Cluster Champions of Central Java
SD Pati Kidul 1 is an MBE target school and represented Pati district in the Central Java cluster competition for 2005. According to school principal, Bpk Muryanto they worked closely with the school committee to improve the school and classroom environment.
The school uses PAKEM approaches in its teaching and you can see the 'knowledge tree', which consists of displays of the best children's work from each class (see photo). In the case of school management they practice financial transparency by displaying the school budget in the schoolyard. In this way everyone can see the school finances without having to ask.
When he was asked what made SD Pati Kidul 1 winners of the Central Java cluster competition, the school principal said that the three components of SBM, community participation and PAKEM, as well as the fact that the rest of the schools in the cluster were all of a good standard, were the key factors in their domination of the cluster evaluation.
PURBALINGGA: PAKEM Doesn't Have to be Expensive
A lot of teachers in Purbalingga district are still doubtful about teaching using PAKEM, although they have already received their first training. This is because they think that PAKEM teaching is expensive and can only be implemented in schools that are already well developed and can easily raise funds.
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Above: Students at MI Kholidiyah Kalibulan and SDN 1 Wirasana using the waste materials and plants from their environment as a learning resource during teaching practice at the PAKEM training in Purbalingga.
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Above: Ibu Siti Haniah an early grades teacher at SDN 2 Banjakarta doing teaching practice outside the classroom at MI Kholidiyah Kalibulan.
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But after the second round of training in Purba-lingga from 27 March to 1 April 2006, they began to change their mind, because the majority of the trainers came from Purbalingga. These districts trainers or facilitators had been implementing PAKEM styles of teaching in their own schools long before the training took place.
They showed that PAKEM teaching didn't have to be expensive, since most of the teachers came from schools which were not considered particularly advanced, having poor facilities and finding it difficult to raise funds.
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These circumstances didn't stop the Purbalingga facilitators. They have been able to teach using PAKEM approaches with easily available waste materials and materials from the natural environment.
In the second PAKEM training the teachers in Purbalingga quickly got used to learning outside the classroom. It seems that their students learn quicker if their lessons are interspersed with fun activities.
At the Moment the School Doesn't Need Money'
In the MBE target schools in Purbalingga district there has been a significant rise in concern for the needs of the school. The community, school principals and teachers are beginning to identify and make prioritized lists of school needs.
The school committee and the local community are now clearly aware that if schools rely solely on help from the government, they cannot deliver the kind of education they would like to without the assistance of the local community. At both SDN 3 Bojong and MI Kholidiyah Kalibulan the toilets were broken and unusable.
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1. Ibu Sis Ruwiyati, the school principal at SDN 3 Bojong), accompanied by the treasurer of the school committee, Bpk Suparman, watching Bpk Imam, school committee, putting on the roof.
2. Bpk Suchemi, the school principal at MI Kholidiyah Kalibulan, in front of the toilets and new well.
3. Bpk Tjaman, the school principal at SDN 1 Karanggendang, with the computers provided by the school committee.
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As a result of this princi-pals of the two schools, Ibu Sis Ruwiyati from SDN 3 Bojong and Bpk Suchemi from MI Kholidiyah Kalibulan, invited their school committees for discussions about the toilets. During these discussions Ibu Sis and Bpk Suchemi asked not just for financial help from the committee and parents.
They both hoped that building of the toilets could be organized directly by the school committee. Ibu Sis and Bpk Suchemi stressed to the committee that the school needed help building the facilities rather than money. There fore they were hoping that the building of the toilets could be managed directly by the school committee, including the planning, finance and building.
The results were excellent. SDN 3 Bojong now has five new toilets and MI Kholidiyah Kalibulan has two toilets and a new well. The school committee at SDN 1 Karanggendang has been doing just as well. Under the coordination of the school principal, Bpk Tjarman, SDN 1 Karanggendang now has a set of computers and printers.
Following a meeting between the school principal and the school committee the school's needs were met completely by the parents. Bpk Ngusman Mujianto and Bpk Sujoko (school committee members) are coordinating repairs to an old teacher's house to turn it into a library, computer room and a health room.
The cost will be covered by the parents, each contributing Rp.50,000 over a period of three months starting this April. The building will start in May 2006.
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