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The USAID Team Visits MBE Target Schools
The good reputation of MBE has reached as far as Washington. In November 2005 Mr. Jim Kunder, the USAID Director for Asia and the Near East, came to Indonesia and visited a number of USAID program sites in East Java. Among these were MBE target schools in Batu, SD Tulungrejo 4 and MI Bustanul Ulum. Mr. Kunder was accompanied by the Director and Deputy Director of USAID Indonesia, Bill Frej and Robert Cunnane, James Hope and Jill Gulliksen from the Education Office of USAID Indonesia, together with a team from the MBE offices in Jakarta and East Java.
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From left to right: Bill Frej, Director of USAID Indonesia, Abdurahman Asari, Coordinator MBE Jawa Timur and Jim Kunder, Director USAID Asia and Middle East observing and discussing a student’s piece of work during a visit to SD Tulungrejo 4, Batu.
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They were also accompanied by local government officers, including Bpk Imam Hidajat, Head of the Education Office, Kota Batu and Ibu Mistin, Head of the Education and Teaching Section. The USAID team appreciated the achievements of the students, schools and local governments working together with the MBE program.
Due to time constraints, they visited only Batu because it is easy to reach from Surabaya, but their appreciation was addressed to all MBE target areas that have been working hard to raise the quality of education. More photos of the USAID Batu visit can be seen on the back page.
MBE is Helping in Aceh
As part of the USAID program for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province, a party from the District Education Office and schools in Banda Aceh were invited in August by the DBE (Decentralized Basic Education) project, USAID’s new education program, to take part in a study visit to MBE and CLCC target schools in Probolinggo.
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1. The PAKEM training was opened by the Mayor of Banda Aceh, Bpk Mawardy Nurdin.
2. A group of training participants in discussion watched by an MBE facilitator, Ibu Tiwi Nurhayati from Batu.
3. Grade 5 children from MD 110 Banda Aceh experimenting to find vitamins helped by Ibu Masida Hanum, a teacher at SD 77 Banda Aceh during teaching practice.
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Before visiting Probolinggo the principals and school committees received training in School Based Manage-ment (SBM) and Community Participation from the DBE team. After returning from Probolinggo a number of the Aceh schools started to implement changes in school management and teaching. Besides receiving support to implement SBM and Community Participation from DBE, they also requested training in PAKEM teaching methods.
Therefore, in mid December MBE started working together with the DBE program to train 16 conventional and religious primary schools (SD and MI) in Banda Aceh to develop PAKEM in their schools. A team of facilitators from MBE districts in Central and East Java accompanied by con-sultants went to Banda Aceh to provide a week of training for principals and teachers in the target schools. The training, which included practical teaching, is des-cribed in more detail on page 14. The training will be followed up with the selection and training of facilitators in Banda Aceh.
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