Plan Indonesia Annual Progress Report 2010

A YEAR IN

INDONESIA 2010

SUMMARY REPORT

Family vegetable plots are important food sources in many parts of Indonesia

3

GOOD REASONS

OUR PRIORITIES

RUSSIA

in Indonesia

why Plan works in Indonesia

• Almost a third of children are malnourished

• Enabling children to grow up with good nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and healthcare

• In rural areas, more than a quarter of people don’t have clean drinking water

SAKHALIN

• Improving the quality of primary education and giving more children the chance to go to school

• Many children drop out of primary school and very few attend preschool

AINE

KAZAKHSTAN

• Helping families increase their incomes and ISLA L RI helping young people to find employment KU

MONGOLIA

GEORGIA

• Helping communities to reduce the risk of disasters like the 2004 tsunami SOUTH

TAJIKISTAN SYRIA

AEL

JORDAN

JAPAN

KOREA

IRAN

NON

S

• Promoting children’s rights and protecting children from violence, abuse and exploitation NORTH KOREA

KYRGYZSTAN

UZBEKISTAN TURKMENISTAN

AZERB. ARMENIA

ND

AFGHANISTAN

IRAQ

PAKISTAN KUWAIT

NEPAL

SAUDI ARABIA BAHRAIN QATAR

BANGLADESH

U.A.E.

OMAN

‘Right now, children are happy and feel at home while studying in the classroom’ TAIWAN

CHINA INDIA

MYANMAR

Children monitor the progress of villages in a project ERITREA YEMENdefecation targeting open

THAILAND

PHILIPPINES VIETNAM

DIJBOUTI

Indonesia Facts SOMALIA

ETHIOPIA

Capital: Jakarta Population: 240.2 million KENYA Languages: Bahasa Indonesia

rainfall. Humidity is generally

Grobogan

SRI LANKA

high, averaging about 80 per cent. Temperatures vary NDA little throughout the year; the average daily temperature (official). About 583 other range of Jakarta is 26–30°C. DI languages and dialects Economy: Indonesia’s are spoken estimated Gross Domestic Climate: Indonesia has a TANZANIA Product (GDP) for 2008 was tropical climate, with two COMOROS US$511 billion. The industry MOZAMBIQUE LAWI distinct monsoonal wet and sector is the economy’s largest dry seasons. Average annual and accounts for 48.1 per cent rainfall in the lowlands of GDP (2008). This is followed varies from 1780–3175 E MAURITIUS by services (37.5 per cent) and MADAGASCAR millimeters, and up to 6100 REUNION agriculture (14.4 per cent). millimeters in mountainous However, agriculture employs regions. Mountainous areas more people than other – particularly in the west AZILAND sectors, accounting for 42.1 coast of Sumatra, West Java, per cent of the 112 millionKalimantan, Sulawesi, and strong workforce.

Papua – receive the highest

Medan

MALAYSIA

Samarinda Palembang Jakarta Kebumen Rembang

INDONESIA Country Office Program Units

Sikka

Makasar

Lembata Kefa

Surabaya Dompu

Soe

AUSTRALIA

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Focus On: education

Education in Indonesia is generally poor.

Primary school drop-out rates are high, only half of children go on to secondary school and few go to preschool. Plan helps to improve educational standards and increase the number of children who attend and complete school. Our school improvement projects cover teacher training,

curriculum development and school management. We also raise awareness of the value of education, and encourage local government to support schools more.

Children in class at a school in Waienga

A Happy Place to be ‘I saw that students were worried about going to school and meeting their teachers.’

and teaching aids using local and recycled materials, rather than buying them.

Dahlan, a teacher from Waienga, eastern Indonesia, is remembering how things used to be at his school. As he explains how he used to teach, it becomes clear that the methods he used weren’t helping children to feel happy and relaxed at school, and were preventing them from learning as well as they could. It’s not surprising that students were, in Dahlan’s words: ‘frightened to see their teachers’.

‘Creating new learning and teaching aids with students is great fun. Students learn new things. They have become more open to me and are not afraid of me any longer,’ Dahlan says. He and his students have changed the look of their classroom by displaying colourful learning aids and students’ creative work.

‘As teachers, we felt we had to dominate, and students had to be good listeners. We usually gave them both physical and mental sanctions by yelling at them in front of their friends,’ admits Dahlan.

The situation he describes was common in many schools in Lembata District. Teachers often used corporal punishment when students behaved badly, and this discouraged them from going to school. Dahlan became concerned about these teaching methods and about students’ wellbeing. ‘However, I did not know how to change the situation ’.

Child-friendly teaching Things changed for the better when Dahlan got involved in a Plan project to promote childfriendly teaching methods which encourage students to learn in an effective but enjoyable way, and feel able to express their ideas.

Children are encouraged to transform their classrooms from traditional settings to become more attractive and welcoming by, for example, changing seating arrangements and decorating walls with their work. Interactive teaching and learning aids are created so children enjoy their lessons and find it easier to learn.

In 2008, Plan began work with the government’s District Office of Education, Youth and Sports Affairs in Lembata to run a training course on active, creative, enjoyable learning methods. One hundred and fifty people took part, including teachers, headteachers, village heads, and local education officers. Dahlan was one of these and, along with many others, he was inspired to change his teaching methods.

Learning to be creative Dahlan had noticed that ‘many teaching aids at school were not being used because teachers did not know how to use them.’ At the training course, he was shown how to create learning Produced for Indonesia by Plan International Australia.

Making school a happy place to be Thanks to the new teaching methods and more welcoming classrooms, Dahlan and his fellow teachers have seen significant changes in the way their students learn. ‘Right now, they are happy and feel at home while studying in the classroom,’ says Dahlan with a smile.

Abdul, 11, says: ‘Since the training, my teacher Dahlan teaches us with interesting tools. He has become nice and listens to me. He shares with us what he got from the training. Now I feel comfortable in the class.’

Thanks to Plan, almost 1500 teachers from over 200 primary schools have now taken part in the training course. They have changed their teaching style from intimidating to childfriendly, with mutual respect between teachers and students.

The Bigger Picture Plan is working with children, families and communities to find sustainable solutions to the challenges in Indonesia. We have only given you a small insight into Plan’s work in Indonesia with this report but over the past year we also: • Supported 26 mainstream schools to include disabled children, by training teachers, providing equipment, and referring children who need special support • Trained 63 health workers in malnutrition and passed on skills to midwives in seven districts affected by the 2004 tsunami • Helped to provide safe drinking water, toilets and hand-washing facilities to 200 schools Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these results. With the resources provided by sponsors, Plan expertise and the collaboration of communities and local partners we are making a big difference to the lives of people in Indonesia.

Thank you for your involvement!

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy reasons

‘Indonesia has made good progress in providing a framework to realise the children’s rights, while at the same time struggling with poverty and minimising the regional disparities (between west, central and eastern areas) which characterise the country’ – John McDonough, Plan’s Country Director in Indonesia

To learn more about Plan’s work in Indonesia visit plan.org.au/ourwork/asia/indonesia

‘Creating new learning and teaching aids with students is great fun. Students learn new things. They have become more open to me and are not afraid of me any longer’