Suara MBE NO. 15, MANAGING BASIC EDUCATION MARCH 2007 Presidents Visit DBE-MBE Activities Final MBE Evaluation In November 2006 after An MBE evaluation team of four people: David Evans, Michael an APEC meeting in Thair, Basri Wello and Rasdi Ekosiswoyo started work in the Hanoi, Vietnam, the US middle of January 2007 to evaluate the implementation and President, George Bush impact of the MBE program, and to make recommendations and his wife, Laura concerning future USAID activities. They visited three districts in made a brief visit to Central Java (Banyumas, Semarang and Pati), three districts in meet the Indonesian East Java (Batu, Malang and Probolinggo), as well as Banda President, Bpk Susilo Aceh and Aceh Besar. They were able to visit both project and Bambang Yudhoyono non-project schools in order to make comparisons, and to hold and his wife, Ibu Ani discussions with stakeholders at both district and school levels. Kristianti. The meeting took place in the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java. On 20 November the US president arrived at the Halim Perdanakusuma airport and was taken by helicopter to Bogor, which was very quiet, because many of the Left: David roads in the town had been closed for the day to guarantee the safety of Evans holding discussions in a the VIPs. Several displays had been setup inside and around the palace by school in the Indonesian government. USAID also held an event to show off its Probolinggo education program in Indonesia. A DBE assisted school, SD Papandayan 1 about the MBE was chosen to create model classrooms in a tent in the Botanical Gardens program in Bogor, next to the palace. Two classrooms where created: a grade 6 room, where a science lesson was organized and a grade 2 room, where reading and writing activities took place. In the grade 2 room there was a They also visited two DBE districts, Kudus and Sidoarjo and held special guest, Elmo, a symbol of the assistance being given by USAID in discussions with DBE personnel at central and regional levels. developing the TV program Sesame Indonesia, which is due to start They were very impressed with what they saw and discovered in broadcasting later in 2007. the field. They reached the conclusion that the MBE program In order to help the was well organized and has had a clear impact in the field on teachers and principal school management, community participation and teaching and of SD Papandayan to learning. You can read a summary of their report on page 20. prepare for the event, several MBE and DBE facilitators came to Bogor. In the classroom MBE Nearing the End of the Road... inside the tent Ibu Tati, The MBE program was due to finish at the end of March the grade 2 teacher 2007, but activities have been extended for three months by was assisted by Ibu USAID, using a remaining amount of funding. The activities Mariaulfah, while the in these three months will include training of district grade 6 teacher, Ibu Rumasti was assisted by Ibu Silvana from Sidoarjo, facilitators from the phase 3 districts and Aceh, as well as a who is also a member of DBE staff. Other MBE facilitators helping the Final Review Meeting and Exhibition in Jakarta during May preparations included Bpk Kadis (Pati) and Ibu Sri Wahjuni (Batu). They involving all 23 partner districts. were coordinated by Bpk Masjudi and Lynne Hill from MBE and Bpk Maskur and Jennifer Rose from DBE. We should like to express our thanks and our best wishes The two presidents and their wives, accompanied by the Minister of for the future to all those who have worked with us on the National Education, Bpk Bambang Subidyo, visited the two classrooms for MBE program. We hope that the benefits of the program will over 40 minutes to watch the lessons and talk with the students, teachers continue to be felt and developed over the long term. and facilitators. You can see some more pictures of the visit by the two presidents on the back page. In This Edition Photos of the Facilitators from the 23 MBE districts (Pages 12 – 14) Review and Planning Meeting: Stories and pictures from MBE Evaluation: Stories from the field about the MBE final evaluation the meeting which took place in November-December in and a summary of the report (Pages 19 -20) Salatiga (Page 8) Examples of PAKEM Teaching: Stories from the field (Pages 21 – 23) Stories from the Field about MBE activities and Back Page: Pictures of the visit by the Indonesian and US Presidents developments in the districts (Pages 2, 4 -11, 14 -18) and their wives to a DBE-MBE site 1 PATI: Nias Teachers Working in MBE Schools Many districts outside the MBE areas are interested in taking part in the same sort of activities. Monitoring of the MBE program has shown that MBE districts have been visited by more than 100 districts from outside the program. MBE district facilitators have frequently been invited to train other districts in Kalimantan, Nias, West Sumatera, Maluku and Aceh. 1 2 In December 2006 Save the Children in Nias sent 19 people (2 from the Education Office, 2 Subdistrict Education Office Heads, 5 teachers, 4 school supervisors, 5 school principals and the district coordinator from Save the Children, Nias) to work in four primary schools in Pati. The schools were SD Sonorejo 3 4 and SD Sembaturagung 02 in Jakenan subdistrict and SD Gabus 01 and SD Kuryo- kalangan 02, Gabus subdistrict. 1. Primary school supervisors and teachers from Nias looking at the children's work (Day 1 activities) The program lasted for three 2. Primary school teachers from Nias in discussion with teachers in the schools they were visiting (Sulistyono and days. Haryati teachers from SD Sonorejo) and facilitators (Day 2 activities) On the first day the participants 3. Teachers from Nias doing teaching practice observed lessons and learned 4. Ibu Hotnida (DC Save the Children) having discussions with Pak Rifai Darajat during the visit to SD Pati Kidul 01 about the implementation of (Day 3 activities) school based management (SBM) and the development of community participation until 12.30. This was followed by Then they tried out they modeled their lessons in front of discussions in the schools they were visiting. From 15.00 to 17.00 then were the local facilitators in order to prepare for teaching discussions with the facilitators and staff from the District Education Office in Pati. practice. On the third day they did practical teaching in On the second day they continued the activities of the first as well as making the schools and visited SD Pati Kidul 01 (Winner of the lesson plans, helped by the teachers in the schools they were visiting. Primary School Cluster Competition in Central Java). MALANG: Legislative and Executive Staff Monitor MBE Program The MBE program has attracted serious attention from the legislature and the executive. As part of the process of strategic decision-making about education, MBE has often been invited to be involved in giving advice. The picture on the right shows the MBE District Coordinator (DC), Bpk Mu’arifin from Malang, together with the Heads of the Local Development Agency and the District Education Office, explaining the strategic program for the district. On 5 February the Education Committee from the Malang District Parliament held a special meeting to evaluate the MBE program (see the picture below right). During the meeting the Bpk Mu’arifin gave a report about the program and its achievements. The meeting of the parliament reached the following conclusions: 1. The MBE program has had a significant effect in increasing the quality of education in the partner schools. 2. The MBE program should be continued especially through dissemination to other schools. 3. The Education Office should be expected to replicate the MBE program even after the project has finished. 4. It is hoped that the district can continue to work with MBE personnel who are based in Malang, even after the end of the project. 2 Review and Planning Meeting in Salatiga All the districts in the MBE program gathered from 30 November to 2 December in Salatiga, Central Java. Each district was represented by members of various agencies including the Local Development Agency, the Education Office, the Religious Affairs Department and Local Parliaments. There were also some representatives of the Education Council (Dewan Pendidikan). Before leaving for Salatiga each district had held a local review meeting. These meetings included a large group of about 50 people from school, subdistrict and 1 district levels. They discussed the successes of the MBE program and the problems they have encountered and then made plans for the future. Several districts gave presentations about these local meetings during the meeting in Salatiga. All the 23 districts have already made plans to continue the MBE program using their own funds. Most have already made funding allocations to support the program. Each of the districts made a display of the MBE program in their area. Photo 1 2 shows the displays from a number of districts in the hotel lobby. Photo 2 shows the display from Central Jakarta, which was situated in the corner of the meeting room. A number of resource persons were invited to tell about their experiences in implementing the MBE program. You can see one of these resource persons in photo 3, Bpk Supanut, the Head of the District Education Office from Probolinggo district, who has pioneered the development of School Based Management (SBM), Community Participation and Active, Creative, Joyful and Effective Learning (PAKEM).