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Helping people to improve their lives and is one of the primary aims of AusAID activities in Indonesia.
KangGURU
and AusAID Through projects such as the COREMAP and IAPSD programs in Batam and Makassar, this important aim is being achieved in some very interesting ways. Read about how KGRE has been recently involved with these projects.
Batam Institutional Development Project Paul Bargon from the IAPSD project based in Batam wrote to KGRE recently and here is his e-mail. 'I am writing to you to find out how I can help Batam and Riau Island English teachers to plug into KangGURU. I am Team Leader of the AusAID 'Batam Institutional Development Project'. The Batam Project started in January 2000 and will finish in July 2003. We primarily work with SMKs and BLKs in Batam and Riau Province. Our assistance is overwhelmingly in the area of teacher training and curriculum development in engineering education. We provided an English Adviser for one year. That assistance was great for the SMK and BLK English teachers but did not touch teachers in other types of school. Batam is an important industry development zone which earns 14% of Indonesia's export income annually. Hundreds of multinational companies operate plants in Batam employing hundreds of thousands of people.
We did a survey of industry training needs in Batam early in 2000 and found that Batam industry's most intense training need is for English Language. It was clear that the single greatest contribution that schools in the Riau Islands can make to the employability of their graduates within the region is to raise their English Language usage to the standard expected by local industry. The standard expected by Batam industry is, quite simply, a capacity to confidently speak English with English users and a capacity to use English to read and write simple business and technical documents. The reason for this expectation is that all of the major companies in Batam are foreign owned and have placed foreign managers and supervisors in their Batam plants. Companies therefore need Indonesian staff who can work with foreign managers in English. The companies need staff who can communicate with workers of plants overseas in English, can deal with customers and visitors in English and can read technical manuals and promotional material in English. This need is particularly pointed with respect to Indonesian technicians and supervisory staff. As an Industry Development Zone, Batam suffers a significant disadvantage with respect to other Trade Zones in countries such as Philippines and Malaysia, in that the Indonesian workforce typically has relatively poor command of English. Batam industry has made it clear that the language issue is most important to them. The single greatest frustration expressed by companies with their Indonesian workforce is their poor English. I would like to ask what sort of assistance your own Project might be able to provide to English teachers in Batam. Is there any way in which I can facilitate such assistance reaching them? I have strong relationships with the local education departments but do not have contacts in schools outside of the SMK and BLK systems'.
KGRE was very happy to be able to help Paul and his project. In June 2002, KGRE conducted teacher workshops for over 70 English language teachers in Batam and in Tanjung Pinang. Teachers were particularly interested in - - how to motivate their students
KGRE saw first hand the work being done by residents
of the tiny 7 island group. One small island is now a sanctuary with people
not allowed to go within 100 meters. Surrounded by coral reefs and home
to nesting turtles, the small outcrop is providing a learning environment
for local fisherman and villagers. A small adjacent island 250 meters
away provides an outlook where villagers keep an eye on the protected
island. In another area villagers have set up a series of fish
breeding ponds. These 8 'pools' were set up early in 2002 and now boast
a fish, mainly gurami, ranging from small ones up to the 'big boys' at
13 kg. They will eventually be released into the nearby waters in an ongoing
effort to replenish the waterways around the complex of islands. With bombing and the use of poison discouraged, it
is hoped that the ecosystem will regenerate and grow. This will provide
more fish for the future and a more productive marine environment for
all. The importance of looking after Indonesia's natural resources is
understood by the villagers. They are all keen to learn more about how
to protect and look after their valuable resource. They are taking the steps necessary for the preservation
and sustainable development of their marine environment for the future
of their children. Pak Rustam (village motivator) and Pak Lakini (wildlife),
with support from COREMAP and AusAID, are working hard to make sure that
the lessons learnt through these local experimental activities are put
to good use in the years to come AND not only for their region tucked
away in Riau, but for other marine locations across Indonesia. Other work being carried out in the island group involves gender based activities to improve the participation of women in income generating activities. Watch out for more news of COREMAP in Selayar and Biak on KGRE soon. Listen to the KG radio program to hear these people talking about their work with AusAID and COREMAP. THE MAKASSAR TOURISM TRAINING PROJECT This project is a four year joint project between the Government of Indonesia and the Government of Australia - an AusAID Project operating under the Indonesia Australia Development for Skills Program. Helping people to improve their lives and is one of the primary aims of AusAID activities in Indonesia and this training project is a wonderful example of this. Training in the introduction of Competency Based Training (CBT) approaches is being provided in three areas - Travel and Tourism, Food Preparation and those Hotel Services such as Front Office and Housekeeping. Upgrading of skills for travel and tourism teachers at AKPAR, SMK4, SMK6 and SMK8 has been a major focus of the project. CBT is a work-based, action learning approach. Its introduction into the travel and tourism industry training in Indonesia means that the students in training must be able to actually do what they have been trained. These qualifications are recognized not only in Indonesia but also in the travel and tourism industry in Australia. Training also includes environmental, health and safety issues in tourism industry workplaces. Up until June 15th 2002, approximately 323 males and 383 females have undertaken training in various courses. Information sessions have been given to more than 120 regional SMU and SMK Principals and senior staff. Forty teachers and travel industry people have formed an English Language Educators Group.
Two groups of six teachers have each undertaken a one-month fellowship at Canberra Institute of Technology in Australia. The project also upgrading equipment and facilities including those in training institutions such as AKPAR, SMK4, SMK6 and SMK8. One example of this is the setting up of a fully operational travel agency at SMK4. In July 2002 the project will extend their work to begin training programs in Jayapura, Papua. Dr Lawrence Vandenberg is Team Leader for the project. He says that 'real magic' is happening in Makassar. 'Makassar has so many wonderful places to visit and activities to do. Fort Rotterdam, the nearby islands including Selayar, marine attractions, local culture and nearby attractions such as Toraja, all mean that in the near future tourism in the Makassar area will be fantastic. However, for tourism to succeed well trained staff are essential; that is why we are here, to work with the people of Makassar to develop a world class quality tourism vocational education and training system'. To read more about the work of the MTTP, AusAID and IAPSD in Indonesia, look at the newly developed website at SMK4. www.geocities.com/travelutama/ Project Vision Project Mission
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