These basic abilities are established through the PAUD and elementary education curricula.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry is expecting advocacy or persuasive communication to clear misconceptions regarding learning activities in Early Childhood Education (PAUD) and early grades of elementary schools (SD).

At the 24th Episode of the Merdeka Belajar (Freedom in Learning) on Tuesday, Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim said that the misconceptions include making reading, writing, and counting tests a requirement for entry into elementary schools.

He also noted that many students have a narrow understanding of numeracy and literacy due to the misconceptions surrounding the reading, writing, and counting learning method.

According to a statement released on the ministry’s website, advocacy is also important to encourage the successful development of students’ six basic abilities that need to be honed starting at PAUD and SDs.

The basic abilities comprise recognizing religious values; mastering social and language skills; developing emotional maturity; improving cognitive maturity; developing motor skills and self-care; as well as understanding positive learning.

"These basic abilities are established through the PAUD and elementary education curricula," the minister stated.

Meanwhile, head of division 1 of the Indonesia Onward Cabinet’s Organization for Solidarity Actions (OASE-KIM), Franka Makarim, said that the improvement of the transition as well as learning process at PAUD and SD should focus on building students’ basic holistic abilities, not only academic skills.

She emphasized that children have the right to education, thus they must not only gain cognitive abilities, but also basic holistic abilities so that they can positively contribute to the advancement of the nation.

"Let’s disseminate this ‘Pleasant PAUD-SD Transition’ policy to people around us, thus this policy can be carried out together and sustainably," Makarim, who is also the chairperson of the organization of civil servants’ wives Dharma Wanita Persatuan (DWP), remarked.

She said that the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry’s policy is in line with the mission of division 1 of OASE-KIM, which aims to strengthen parenting and character education programs in Indonesia.

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Translator: Astrid Habibah, Uyu Liman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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