Whoever leads SMPN 2 Musuk,
Relevant and Meaningful Learning Will Continue!

DRA. Sri Supanti Nurhayati,M.Pd ( Ibu Nur), principal of SMP 2 Musuk, Kabupaten Boyolali said that, since joining DBE3 program in 2009, SMP 2 Musuk had made a lot of changes. At present the school conducts regular activities through the school's own teachers' working groups (MGMP), the teachers use the environment as a source of learning, there are displays boards and storage cupboards for students' work in each classroom and contextual and meaningful learning has becime the norm at SMPN 2 Musuk. What has she done to sustain this? Ibu Nur has taken some strategic steps to keep up contextual learning at her school. She has allocated part of the school budget to support it.

According to Ibu Nur, the budget will be used to support students' activities. First, it will be used for extra curricular activities, sending the students to competitions, and forming a ' Mathematics Fan Club '. Second, the budget will be used to support activities for teachers, such as facilitating the school and district level MGMP, replicating BTL training for teachers, and conducting workshops. Third, the budget will be used for facilities and learning equipment, such as cupboards to store students' work and stationery.

The support from the school has not been in vain. The national exam average score has increased from 24.15 to 28.21. One student even got 10 for Mathematics. " Whoever leads SMP 2 Musuk, he or she will not discontinue what we have done and achieved, because we have included all these activities in the budget, " said the principal, who also happens to be a Mathematics teacher. The motivation to make these changes was inspired by the school motto ' actions speak louder than words '.

MTs NU Al Hidayah Welcomes and Institutionalizes Change

MTs NU Al Hidayah is a madrasah which has worked with DBE3 since 2006. Its location is in Getas Srabi village, about 10 Km from Kudus. The implementation of contextual learning can be seen in each classroom: from the seating arrangements to the students' work displayed on the classroom wall. The school is also equipped with labs for the English, Science, Computers and Religious Studies. Noor Azis, S.Ag, principal of MTs NU Al Hidayah, realizes that the positive things they have achieved will not be sustained unless there are efforts to institutionalize them.

Programs have been planned to support active learning. Among these programs are training, production of learning media, provision of display boards, provision of stationery for use in lessons, internet facilities, increasing the number of books in the school library, increasing opportunities for teachers to take part in the school and district MGMPs, funding for extra curricular activities and replication training in BTL and ICT. Thanks to these changes, the community have more trust in the school. Every year, the average number of students enrolling in the school increases by about 30 students.