ProVisi Education and Room to Read have joined forces with Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) to support children’s literacy in Indonesia amid the COVID-19 pandemic by hosting a webinar called “Cultivating Reading Interest in Children,” aimed at teachers and principals in Kabupaten Kubu Raya and Kabupaten Landak (Kalimantan Barat), Kabupaten Nagekeo (Nusa Tenggara Timur), and Kabupaten Sentani (Papua).
This event aimed to provide knowledge and tools to school principals and educators to design activities and facilities that support students’ reading interest. This is especially important during the pandemic, which has disrupted traditional learning methods and made it more challenging to engage students.
The webinar was a hit, with 538 elementary school principals and teachers in attendance. During the session, ProVisi Education speakers introduced participants to Literacycloud.org, a platform that offers features that can be utilized in reading activities with students. Meanwhile, Fenny Samosir, the Education Coordinator of WVI in Kabupaten Landak, shared materials about the types of books that attract children’s attention and how to involve parents in reading activities with children at home. Participants were thrilled to learn new reading tricks with movements and expressions that could attract children’s attention, as well as gain knowledge about the use of applications in learning and reading activities. This event was also a follow up of the “Training of Trainers (ToT) Cultivating Reading Habits at Home Using Literacy Cloud” event which was held in August 2020.
The event has been positively received, with Hery Mulyadi, SH, the Head of Education and Culture Department of Kabupaten Landak, stating that it is an excellent opportunity to improve the quality of education, especially during the pandemic. Muhammad Ayub, the Head of Education and Culture Department of Kabupaten Kubu Raya, also highlighted the importance of cultivating reading habits to improve personal and collective knowledge quality. This collaborative effort between ProVisi Education, Room to Read, WVI, and other organizations is set to continue, with upcoming webinars and events aimed at enhancing skills in promoting children’s literacy in Indonesia.
It’s heartwarming to see the collaborations between organizations to support Indonesia’s children education during these challenging times. We are excited to continue amplifying the positive impacts in the future. In the meantime, we hope that the knowledge and tools shared during this webinar will inspire educators to design engaging reading activities and facilities that foster a love of learning in their students.
