"We need support not only from teachers and school principals but also parents because parents have a big impact in determining that our children love books," Makarim said during the launch of a Merdeka Learning Program here on Monday (February 27).
The Ministry launched the Merdeka Learning Program Episode 23 titled "Good Quality Reading Books for Indonesian Literacy" to address the issue of low literacy skills in children due to a lack of reading habit from an early age.
The program focuses on sending good-quality reading books to the Early Childhood Education (PAUD) and Elementary School (SD) levels, accompanied by training for teachers.
Speaking at the launch, the principal of Iyameli Public Elementary School in Alor sub-district, East Nusa Tenggara province, Via Watna Legimakani, lauded the program for providing assistance in the form of reading books from the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Legimakani said that her school received more than 1,600 copies of books with 540 book titles that had been greeted with a high level of enthusiasm from both teachers and students.
Moreover, first graders came straight to the principal's office and took a book and looked at the pictures in it, she said.
Principal of the Lirung Public Elementary School in Talaud sub-district, North Sulawesi, Pelma Petonengan, assessed that the presence of these reading books motivated teachers and principals to create Reading Corners in each class by involving the parents of students.
"It is not only the children who are interested and enjoy reading at the Reading Corner that we created, but parents also want to borrow books to read to their children before going to bed," Pelma said.
A teacher at 35 Krui Public Elementary School in Pesisir Barat sub-district, Lampung, Maulana Hasan Saifudin, emphasized that the impact of having good-quality reading books was extraordinary.
"Now, our children have a higher level of interest in reading because this grant from the Ministry of Education and Culture is in accordance with the needs of children," Maulana said.
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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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