Kebumen District Highly Proactive!

From the 12 - 15 May several key persons linked to education in Kebumen District attended an orientation meeting about the MBE project at the Yogyakarta Plaza Hotel. As proof of their seriousness about raising the quality of education in their area, they were assiduous in attending every single activity.

Soon afterwards the key stakeholders from the district made a study visit to Probolinggo and Pacitan districts. There they were able to observe directly lessons using the principles of PAKEM (active learning). They also had the opportunity to have discussions with school principals and school committee members to deepen their knowledge of School Based Management (SBM) and community participation. All the activities were arranged by the local MBE district coordinators.

The study visits took place from 23 - 26 May 2004. The participants included officials from Bappeda, Dinas Pendidikan from district and sub-district levels, members of the Dewan Pendidikan and School Committees, MORA, and members of the social affairs committee of the local parliament, teachers, principals and one Sub-District Head (Camat).

Schools Visited Feel the Benefit

The teachers, principals and supervisors from Kebumen district, while broadening their knowledge at two MBE schools in Pacitan: SD Balharjo 2 and SD Ploso 1, got involved in extensive dis-cussions with their hosts. The dialogue included a very interactive question and answer.

It's normal for the visitors to ask more of the questions. But in this case the hosts were not to be beaten! They also asked a lot of questions to get suggestions from the visitors. In this way the hosts also benefit from outside visitors.

From talking to the important visitors from the education sector in Kebumen the school principal of SD Baleharjo 2 became aware that the activities in the school canteen should become part of the children's education. A similar thing happened in SD Ploso 1 where the class 1 teacher immediately put into practice some advice from the visitors after a short discussion in the class.

The Bupati Cares About Education

The Bupati of Kebumen, who recently tied the knot of marriage with her husband who is from Sulawesi, cares deeply about education. As proof of this concern she has taken the initiative of collecting funds for basic education. This good idea took the form of producing an education coupon.

This education coupon was offered to all the guests at the Bupati's wedding reception. Each of them was asked to buy one coupon costing Rp.9,000. The money is going to be used to develop basic education in Kebumen. The hope for the future is that this idea will be repeated with officials using it at various events to support the improvement of the quality of basic education.

SBM, Community Participation and PAKEM in Banyumas

The SBM, Community Participation and PAKEM program in Banyumas district is not new. They are already well acquainted with the program managed by Unesco, Unicef and the Ministry of National Education. As a result even some of the schools which have not received direct training are already implementing the program on their own.

These include SD Ajibarangwetan I in Ajibarang Sub-district, and SD Bentul and SD Gambarsari di Kebasen Sub-district, who are attempting to implement SBM, Community Participation and PAKEM by themselves.

SBM Bonsai at SMPN 4 Banyuwangi

One of the schools in Banyuwangi town, SMPN 4 Banyuwangi, under the leadership of the principal Bapak Suseno, has become a first choice school for students. But a shortage of space means that the school is unable from year to year to accommodate all the students who would like to study there.

If you visit the school, you will find that it is extremely limited in area, the school yard is quite small and has only 9 classes, 3 each for grades 1, 2 and 3. There is no way of opening new classes in the future without building upwards by adding a second storey to the school building or moving to a larger site.

The school, sited as it is in the middle of a housing settlement, has little room for expansion. But this situation does not dim the enthusiasm for learning among the pupils of SMPN 4 Banyuwangi. Indeed the limited space available is seen as a challenge to the creativity of the teachers and students.

In the small school yard we were able to see neatly arranged rows of various kinds of bonsaied plants. We were not just amazed at the beauty of the bonsai. They included a lot of different varieties. Cuttings had been provided by the students, their parents and local community members.

The cultivation of the bonsai had been guided by Bapak Sugeng, one of the teachers, who acts as an instructor to those students and community members who wished to cultivate bonsai.

In the Banyuwangi Bonsai community SMPN 4 has already made a name for itself. The fact that it has already taken part in a number of exhibitions and auctions at regional and national levels proves this.

The proceeds from the sale of the bonsai is divided equally between paying cultivation costs, a contribution students' organisation funds and providing support for teaching and learning activities. Future plans include using the proceeds from the sales to buy additional empty land near the school.

The students have developed a high sense of ownership with the result that during break times or after school hours you won't find any vandalism among students or any of them damaging the bonsai.

On the contrary you're likely to find the students happily taking care of the bonsai. Even the students organisation itself is involved in looking after them.