MBE Moves into 11 New Districts

Starting this month, April 2005, the MBE will move into 5 new districts in Central Java and 6 new districts in the East Java. These areas were selected after the MBE received expressions of interest and our consultants visited the areas. The eleven areas are:

• Central Java: the districts of Purbalingga, Purworejo, Semarang, Sukoharjo, and Magelang city.

• East Java: the districts of Magetan, Malang, Nganjuk, Situbondo, Trenggalek and Pasuruan city.

Activities for the eleven target new areas will begin with an orientation workshop from 11 -13 May in Batu, including visits to the MBE target schools in Batu and Blitar. You can see a map of all the MBE areas on the back page (page 16).

MBE Meets the Director General

On 15 March a number of basic education programs were invited to give presentations in front of the Director General of Primary and Junior Secondary Education, Bpk Indra Jati Sidi. A number of donors attended including USAID and AusAID. Besides the MBE program the CLCC program (UNESCO, UNICEF), IAPBE and NTT-PEP (AusAID) were also invited. Each program gave a presentation about their activities and this was followed by discussions about cooperation and coordination between the programs.

The MBE presentation was introduced by Stuart Weston as Chief of Party, and was followed by presentations from the MBE districts including Bpk Kardoyo from Pacitan on Mapping and Planning, Ibu Mistin from Batu on School Funding and Ibu Sri Sumarti, Principal of SD Tangkil 1, Blitar district who spoke about School Based Management, Community Participation and PAKEM. Bpk Indra Jati Sidi (Dirjen) was very impressed, particularly by the stories from the districts.

Bpk. Indra Jati Sidi, Director General of Primary and Secondary Education opening the meeting (left) Displays of children's work from Batu at the meeting (below

Other Stories inside: Education Funding, Coordination MBE Training Methods News from the MBE Districts Mapping and Planning Various Issues about PAKEM Map of the MBE Areas

Poor Teachers, Rich School

Among the successful MBE target schools is SMP Muhamadiyah situated in the rural Kebasen sub-district in Banyumas. 60% of the teachers are on temporary contracts with an average salary below Rp. 100.000 per month!

However they are highly committed and the classrooms are full of displays of students' work inside and outside. It is not just for decoration - the displays include science reports, maths problem solving, and stories and poems written by the students themselves. The atmosphere in the school is positive and happy.

The students said they really like learning using PAKEM methods because learning is more interesting and they can solve problems together with their friends. Even though the teachers are poor, the educational environment is rich. The SMP is one of the best SMP in the MBE districts!!

Grade 1 Students in School till 12.00

Overseas visitors to Indonesia are often surprised by the fact that students in grades 1 and 2 only spend about 3 hours per day in school. In most other countries students of these grades spend the whole day in the classroom like the other grades. This short day reduces learning opportunities for the students. SD Tulungrejo 4, in the Batu sub-district has become a pioneer in this respect. Students in grade 1 stay at school until 12.00 o'clock. In the early morning they do PAKEM-style activities and for the rest of the session they do more formal tasks. Are there any other schools that are brave enough to do the same?