Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Communication and Information Technology Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry are working together to help madrasa students gain digital literacy skills.

"We conduct the National Digital Literacy Movement (GNLD) given we are in the process of digital transformation. We know that the key to (digital transformation) success is by preparing human resources. If not, everyone would just (sit back and watch)," Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan from the Communication and Information Technology Ministry said during a webinar titled 'Madrasah #MakinCakapDigital' on Thursday.

In this era, people need to optimize the utilization of digital space, he said. According to the Digital Literacy Survey, people are chatting, uploading photos, and sharing content using digital devices and platforms nowadays, he noted.

"There are so many positive and productive things that can be done (digitally). We want to broaden the Indonesian people's horizon so they can use technology productively and compete with other countries. If we don't prepare ourselves in this process, foreigners would take up the chance," Pangerapan said.

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Digital literacy is a basic skill for human resource development, he added.

Indonesia is aiming to meet its need for digitally literate human resources by providing digital skills training to 600 thousand citizens every year, he informed.

So far, 3,691,028 people from 34 provinces have participated in the National Digital Literacy Program since it kicked off on May 20 this year, he pointed out.

During Thursday's webinar, Muhammad Ali Ramdhani from the Religious Affairs Ministry said that the pandemic has forced people to optimize the use of technology in many sectors, including education.

Online learning is being widely used in madrasas, and this has created the need for strengthening students' digital literacy skills to build a healthy digital culture, he added.

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Translator: Natisha A, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
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