All of the initiatives will assist Indonesia to recover from the pandemic and to keep moving forward.
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim highlighted Indonesia’s two main initiatives of the School Digitization Program at a meeting titled “Indonesia and Latin America and the Caribbean Partnership: Recover Together, Recover Stronger.”
Makarim remarked that the initiatives comprised the disbursal of information technology devices to schools and the development of a free digital education platform.
“Technology has become our daily necessity while also providing us an opportunity to move towards a better future,” he remarked in a written statement received here on Tuesday.
During the panel discussion III themed “How COVID-19 Pandemic Shapes the Future of Innovation and Technology,” the minister admitted that the pandemic had changed the methods of teaching and learning.
Related news: Pancasila Sanctity Day moment to reflect on nation’s values: minister
Full-time online learning becomes a novelty for all teachers around the world, especially for those living in remote areas.
Thus, the ministry had implemented the “Merdeka Belajar,” which means Emancipated Learning, program to support teachers to conduct online learning.
“I hope that our initiatives would help improve the quality of education in remote areas, so people in the regions would be able to optimize their potential,” he affirmed.
Furthermore, he drew attention to several applications developed by the ministry, for instance the SIPLah (School Procurement Information System), which served as a marketplace to assist schools in buying their learning equipment using operational assistance funds disbursed by the government.
In addition, the ministry has provided various learning materials for teachers and students at the preschool to high school levels through the website “Rumah Belajar,”‘ which means Learning House.
Related news: Ministry launches Merdeka Belajar’s Indonesian culture channel
“All of the initiatives will assist Indonesia to recover from the pandemic and to keep moving forward,” Makarim affirmed.
On the same occasion, he also emphasized the importance of personalizing learning that will disengage students from the old teaching paradigm that limited their potential and creativity.
Furthermore, he expected that the Indonesia-Latin America and Caribbean Business Forum will create various opportunities for all parties, especially the education sector actors, and strengthen relations and cooperation among the countries.
Related news: Jokowi urges SOEs calculate infrastructure construction tasks
Related news: House member supports Polri to take action against violent personnel