Developing Models of Good Practice

* School Based Management (SBM)

In the past education has been managed in a centralised manner. Local government and schools had very limited responsibility and power. Devolving responsibility and resources to schools allows them to identify and address their own development needs. It motivates schools and communities to address issues, which were previously con-sidered to be outside their control. The SBM program offers training to principals, teachers, school committees and community members to help them make good use of these resources.

Together they develop integrated school development plans with the emphasis on improving the quality of teaching and learning. They also develop integrated school budgets showing all sources of income and all expenditure. These budgets are generally displayed on school notice boards for everyone to see. This transparency and openness encourages the active support of the local community.        

       

       

       

* Community Participation

The program trains communities (including School Committees) and schools to work together in supporting their schools. The purpose is to promote a sense of 'ownership' among the local com-munity and to encourage them to participate actively in the activities of the school.                              

 support has traditionally been in providing funding to schools, but increasingly communities are taking responsibility for repairing and maintaining schools. In some schools parents and communities have formed parents' groups to assist each class directly, and in some cases parents help the teachers in the classroom.        

       

       

       

       

       

When funds are given to local communities to manage they are used much more efficiently. Every district has stories of how the money to repair one classroom was sufficient to repair two, owing the efficient management of funds at local level and extra voluntary contributions from the local community.

* PAKEM

The ultimate aim of the program is to increase the quality of education which the children receive. Traditionally teaching in Indonesia has mainly consisted of rote learning of facts and processes. As a result many pupils leave school with poor language and problem solving skills and without the creativity to cope with many of the challenges of everyday life. Active, Creative, Joyful and Effective Learning (PAKEM) aims to create a richer learning environment, which equips students with the skills, knowledge and attitudes for life.

As a result of PAKEM training teachers adopt different teaching strategies, including more interactive learning in groups and more practical work. Children are expected to think more for them-selves, instead of being told the answers and the writing they do is in their own words, rather than copied from the blackboard or the book. The classroom environment is made more child-friendly and has displays of children's work and interesting teaching aides.        

       

       

How the Program Works

District Level Management Activities

The MBE program builds up local capacity to run the district's programs. To support the school mapping a team is chosen comprising district level staff and staff from subdistrict level including school supervisors. Supported by workshops and direct assistance from RTI this group analyses the district data needs, collects and analyses data and makes plans to address the issues identified in the analysis of the data.

Formula funding is designed by local governments according to their needs with the assistance of our consultants. The MBE program encourages the development of innovative approaches in the target districts and supports their dissemination through workshops, inter-district study visits and a quarterly newsletter.