Director general of village and rural development at the ministry, Sugito, said that out of the 33,902 villages, 30,177 have already utilized and optimized the library and reading parks.
"The community's knowledge will have an impact on efforts to drive various economic potentials and preserve the environment in villages," he said at a hearing meeting with Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) here on Wednesday.
Sugito explained that education is an important investment for the nation's future because it will help produce quality and competitive human resources.
Therefore, he said, the ministry also has a responsibility to increase the community's literacy because that will have an impact on the economic level, welfare, and environmental sustainability at the village level.
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"Village governments (must) jointly ensure the availability and the accessibility of quality education services for village residents as well as easy access to education services for villages," he added.
The efforts made by the ministry to create quality human resources have included ensuring that children in villages have easy access to early childhood education/kindergarten, elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools with a minimum of 'B' accreditation.
In addition, access to pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) for children in villages has reached 100 percent, and the rate of Latin and non-Latin literacy among people aged over 15 has also reached 100 percent.
"We are also ensuring that the average years of school in the over-20 population reaches 12 years," he remarked.
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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul, Raka Adji
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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