Newly Trained, Already Implementing in Class

THE TEACHERS and school principal of SMPN7 Rangkasbitung, Lebak district, Banten, which is a non-partner school DBE3, were recently trained in BTL2 from 7 - 9 November 2010. Training was funded by the school and the teachers themselves. Teachers of all subjects were involved in the training. Photo 1 shows the teachers under the training banner.

When the school was visited on 12 November, the results of the training was already being applied in class. There have been physical changes in all the classes. Tables and chairs are arranged so that students sit in groups and there are already displays of students' work. But the changes did not stop with the physical changes! Activities in a number of classes had been designed to encourage students to think and do things for themselves.

Students in the English class on the left are being taught to make sentences using learning media (real objects) to help them, for example: 'The pen is on the chair.' Then the students were asked by the teacher to compile similar sentences and write them on small pieces paper. The papers were displayed, read and corrected by their friends. The teacher's role has also changed in the classes we observed. In photo 2 you can see the English teacher, Ibu Yanti helping the students formulate their sentences.

At SMPN2 Rangkasbitung, one of the DBE3 partner schools, there were practical activities in class. In photo 3 the students are learning about electricity by using a science kit.

DBE3 Participates in UNICEF Workshop

THE PROGRAM 'Mainstreaming Good Practices in Basic Education' (MGP-BE), managed by UNICEF and funded by the European Union, has been working to improve the quality and management of education in 12 districts in 6 provinces. The project invited a number of programs working on similar themes to take part in an exhibition at the final MGP-BE project workshop on 4 - 5 November at the Ministry of National Education, Jakarta. Programs that participated in the exhibition included DBE1, DBE2, DBE3, other UNICEF programs and AUSAID and JICA programs.

The picture above is of the DBE3 stand at the exhibition. In the picture on the left are DBE3 staff and partners who helped set up the exhibition. From left to right: Pak Dindin, Communication Officer of DBE3 West Java-Banten, Ibu Sri Supanti, school principal and DBE3 facilitator from Boyolali, Central Java, and Pak Mulyana Surya Atmaja, a teacher and facilitator from Karawang, West Java.