PINTAR facilitator volunteers to run numeracy workshop for other teachers

When Suhelia Yanuarmi, better known as Mimi, attended a numeracy training session for teachers in Yogyakarta, she was determined to share what she had gained with other teachers in her area.

Organised by Tanoto Foundation in collaboration with INOVASI (Indonesia’s School Children Program, a joint initiative between the Australian and Indonesian governments), the training session underscored the significance of numeracy lessons during early childhood education.

It also focused on how ordinary objects that are easily found in one’s surroundings can be used to help develop numeracy proficiency among students.

Mimi, who teaches at SDN 01 Benteng Hulu in Mempura district in Riau’s Siak regency, is also a regional facilitator for Tanoto Foundation’s PINTAR program, which means she has a lot of experience in facilitating training sessions for teachers as well as in providing assistance to schools.

Feeling that the training she had just attended was particularly beneficial, Mimi willingly offered to share what she had learned with her fellow teachers a few days later when a routine coordination meeting for regional education facilitators in Siak regency was held.

The offer was enthusiastically accepted by the other regional facilitators, and they soon began planning a workshop not only for them, but which was also open to any interested teachers in the area. Mimi did not expect compensation for her time and effort, and participants would not need to pay for the workshop.

In just a short time, 32 participants had signed up for the workshop which was advertised through word-of-mouth and social media. The participants comprised 10 regional education facilitators, including Mimi, and teachers from various sub-districts in the vicinity.

A week later, the one-day workshop was carried out at SDN 01 Benteng Hulu. As previously notified, the participants were to come with various tools and materials including bottle caps, mini blackboards, thread, shirt buttons and seeds. The workshop participants were taught how to introduce numeracy concepts such as arithmetic, number sequencing and measurements to the students in their classrooms, using these materials as visual aids.

“It turns out that it’s pretty easy and inexpensive to introduce numeracy concepts which may sometimes be confusing even to us,” one workshop participant said.

Mimi’s desire to share her understanding and experience with others, as well as the other teachers’ willingness to learn, are both commendable efforts which should be replicated by others in the country to collectively contribute towards improving national education quality.

Written by Sasmoyo Hermawan, Tanoto Foundation Riau