Radio Broadcasts to Improve Education Quality

“Good evening children, this is the education station of Radio SDN Sempu broadcasting live from the mini-studio in SDN Sempu, in Limpung sub-district, Batang….” These are the opening remarks you can hear on education radio if you are in the Sempu area during the evening. The pleasant greeting from the radio announcer is none other than the voice of one of the teachers of SDN Sempu, carried by education radio Sempu on 95.2 metres. The program is broadcast on certain evenings between 7 and 8 p.m. and can be heard by the students and parents in the village.

A broadcast by the students of SDN Sempu

According to the school principal, Bapak Setiarso, the radio, which has a range of five kilometres, was intended as an innovative step by the school in order to increase the quality and creativity of the students. The program is not yet aired every evening, but it is hoped to improve it gradually in order to raise the quality of the students’ education.

‘In this first stage we have limited the broadcasts to guiding the children with their homework in certain subjects. In future we are going to improve the variety of the broadcasts to develop the children’s creativity and art with the children themselves doing the broadcasting,’ Ibu Nurul Faizah informed us. She is the teacher who has been given special responsibility to develop education radio in SDN Sempu. Good luck to SDN Sempu. Would any other schools like to copy them?

SDN Sempu Ready for Change

SD Sempu in Limpung sub-district, Batang, Central Java, is showing its readiness for change, especially in applying the innovative ideas of School Based Management. Pak. H Setiarso, the school principal, is enthusiastic when he explains the various innovations he is introducing. The school already applies principles of openness in raising and using funds. Some of the sources of funds include the school cooperative, farming, community contributions and animal husbandry. The funds received are displayed transparently on the school wall. The school also has a radio transmitter which broadcasts each evening from 7 to 8 p.m. on a wavelength of 95.2 metres. The range of the broadcast reaches the students homes to a distance of 5 to 6 kilometers.

All the ten teachers in the school support the school principals program of innovation. For example, Ibu Nurul Faizah, the class 6 teacher, is trying to apply the ideas of PAKEM (Active, Creative, Joyful and Effective Learning), by grouping the students and displaying the work of individual students on the wall.

Ibu Nurul is no less enthusiastic than the principal. Even though she has only once visited a school which has been implementing SBM, SD Pasuruhan in Magelang, she is confident enough to try it out in her class. She is trying to develop worksheets which encourage the creativity of the students. She is trying to change the traditional organisation of the class, where the children used to sit in rows, to encourage the children to be more active. Ibu Nurul is also expert in broadcasting educational programs on the radio.

The school is very clean and tidy. The 250 students are very disciplined in caring for the cleanliness of the school. During the rainy season their shoes are covered in mud. They take off their shoes before entering their classrooms. Even though the school principal would like to have a school caretaker, this is just a dream so far –his request has not been accepted – but the principal and the teachers have not given up hope. They take turns in being responsible for the cleanliness of the school.

Female Overseas Workers in Hong Kong Helping Schools

So far we have mainly heard sad stories about Indonesian women working overseas, and complaints of their lack of contribution to the country’s development. Maybe this story from Yosorejo village will open our eyes to their role. Bapak Mohammad, the Head of the School Committee and Bapak Nuryanto, a teacher at SD Yosorejo in Gringgsing sub-district, Batang, told the story to Suara MBE.

In 1999 the School Principal complained to the school committee about the poor condition of the roofs and ceilings of the classrooms, the ultimate effect of which was that the children of class 3 had to move to another room when it rained. The principal and school committee met with the school community to find a way to overcome this problem.

It was agreed to ask for two contributions during the period 1999 and 2000. From 300 students they were able to collect Rp.10 million, which was used to repair the school roof and floors. While they were collecting this money one of the teachers had the idea of sending letters to some of female ex-students who were working in Hong Kong. In fact dozens of female ex-students had gone to work overseas (a fact which unfortunately meant that they were unable to continue their education).

Based on this proposal the Principal and School Committee wrote letters to some of the female workers to ask for contributions to repair the 430 m² school yard. Their reply was to ask for an official proposal to back up the request. From this first proposal the workers collected and sent Rp.5 million. The proposal was then passed on to other colleagues of these workers in Hong Kong, who are not ex-students of the school. From this they raised a further Rp.7 million. These contributions from overseas workers in Hong Kong prove their concern for education. How about other workers overseas?