Sambas Green School Wins Indonesia MDG Award

Jakarta – Two innovative education initiatives from Wahana Visi Indonesia, won the Millenium Development Goal (MDG) Awards 2013 presented at the Djakarta Theater on March 15.

The education initiative in Sambas – West Kalimantan, called Sekolah Hijau (Green School), was selected as the first winner in the education sector for civil society category.

The initiative in Sikka - Flores, called Pendidikan Karakter Kulababong (Kulababong Character-based Education) won the second place award in the local government education initiative category.

Contextual character education initiative had proven to be effective in countering social challenges in various areas.

Implementation was done by Wahana Visi Indonesia - special partner of humanitarian organization World Vision Indonesia, with support from many local partners- from teachers, to the district education offices, to the Ministry of Education and Culture.

“This education initiative has proven to be effective in various areas. Our approach supports and even strengthens our 2013 national curriculum implementation,” World Vision Indonesia Director Tjahjono Soerjodibroto said.

“Indonesian local wisdom is a cultural richness that needs to be preserved. As a child-focused organization, we believe this can be done through interactive and fun character education approach which should bring joy instead of burden for the children,” Tjahjono said. He expects the contextual character education initiative to inspire many parties who share the same concerns about finding breakthroughs to improve the quality of education across Indonesia.

The approach has significantly boosted student participation and academic achievements as well as teacher creativity. Beyond the classroom, parent involvement to support their children’s learning process has also increased.