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The Australia Indonesia Basic Education Program (AIBEP)

The new Basic Education Program website is full of wondeful information about this exciting program across Indonesia. This website will be updated regularly and includes a lot of useful information about the Basic Education Program such as school address lists, budgets, etc.

AIBEP website's Guest Book — why not post a message?

Some recent AIBEP school openings -

Banjar Baru, South Kalimantan - Aug. 31st, 2007
Kintamani, Bali - September 14th, 2007
Nunkurus - near Kupang, NTT - Nov. 9th, 2007

The Australia Indonesia Partnership has a website with several great features for you to look at. These include Indonesian Update, AusAID's April 2007 Update, Media Releases, Indonesia Review 2006 plus Feature Stories. It has all the latest news on Indonesia and Australia working together in Indonesia.

Read our Archives for many more Kang GURU reports about the work of Australia Indonesia Partnership and AusAID covering the period 2000 to 2008.

The Government of Indonesia has made a commitment to a universal standard of nine years schooling, to be in place by 2010. To reach this goal, the Ministries of National Education (MoNE) and Religious Affairs (MoRA) have developed strategic plans that give top priority to increasing access to basic education, improving quality and standards, and strengthening education governance and accountability mechanisms. The A$355 million Australia Indonesia Basic Education Program (AIBEP) has been designed to support these Government of Indonesia (GoI) priorities.

The overarching loan agreement for Australia-Indonesia Partnership, the Partnership Loan Agreement, was signed on 27 June 2006, and the Project Loan Agreement, the Project Grant Agreement and the Subsidiary Arrangement for Basic Education Program were signed by Government of Australia and Government of Indonesia on 12 July 2006.

A brand new school in Banjarbaru

Australia Builds 17 New Secondary Schools in South Kalimantan

Australia's Deputy Head of Mission to Indonesia, Ms Louise Hand, officiated at a ceremony in Banjarbaru (Aug. 31st) to inaugurate one of 17 junior secondary schools (SMP) the Australian Government is building in South Kalimantan. Ms Hand said the new schools were part of the Rp2,5 trillion Australian Government program to build or expand 2000 schools in Indonesia, across 20 provinces, from 2006-2009.

“Up to 1225 of these schools are expected to be completed by early 2008,” Ms Hand said during the inauguration ceremony at SMPN 13 Cempaka, Banjarbaru. “This year, we have funded the construction of 10 secondary schools in South Kalimantan and another seven schools will be built here next year,” she said.

Ms Hand arriving at SMP 13

Ms. Louise Hand arriving at SMP 13 in Bajarbaru

Australia's Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia, Ms Louise Hand, together with Indonesian education officials at the opening of SMP 13 banjarbaru on Aug. 31, 2007

Left to right: Depdiknas, Director of Junior Secondary School Improvement, Hamid Muhammad, Ms Louise Hand and the Mayor of Banjarbaru, Rudi Resnawan.

Officials were escorted around the school to see just how wonderful it is

The schools are all built by local people using locally supplied materials. The school sites have been selected based on assessments of unmet demand, enrolment rates and community commitment.

Ms Hand with the students at SMPN 13, Banjarbaru

Local people are building the schools using locally supplied materials. The school sites have been selected based on assessments of unmet demand, enrolment rates and community involvement. Ms Hand said some schools built under the program would be invited to participate in a planned ‘sister school’ arrangement with Australian schools.

Ms Hand foreshadowed a school 'twinning' program between Australian and Indonesian schools that would be open to BEP funded schools. The program would facilitate exchange between Australian and Indonesian school communities and strengthen the relationship between the two countries. In a light hearted moment, Ms Hand reflecting on her own experiences wished the assembled parents luck with getting their children to complete their homework on time.

SMP Negeri 13, in Banjar Baru, is about 30 minutes by car from Bamjarmasin, and the school is brand new. The buildings, and even the furniture, are new and local students are thrilled with their new school. The first group of students are SMP Kelas 1.

The school was officially opened on August 31st, 2007, by the Deputy Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Ms Louise Hand. The teachers and students were very excited about their new school.

SMPN 13 Banjarbaru was built through cooperation between the Government of Indonesia and the Government of Australia. It is just one of a planned 2000 SMP schools being bulit all over Indonesia through AusAID's Basic Education Program (BEP).

SMP 13 Banjarbaru

The Australian Government program, developed in consultation with the Ministries of National Education and Religious Affairs, aims to create more than 330,000 new junior secondary school (SMP) places for 13 to 15 year olds by mid-2009, targeting children from poor and remote areas. Around 500 of the 2000 schools being built or expanded are private Madrasah Tsanawiyah, under the supervision of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Absolutely crucial to the development and construction was the involvement of the local community. They took care of not just the preparations of the land but also the school's construction but even down to making the furniture for the teachers and students to use.

Ms Hand chatting with very excited SMP 13 students in their new library

Louise Hand standing together with the teacher choir which sang during Ms Hand's tour of the school

KGRE NOTE: KGRE would also like to say hello to two English language teachers at SMP 13. They are Thohal and Yanie. Good luck with not only the new school but with your teaching.

The Official Opening of another BEP -constructed school. This SMP school is in Kintamani, Bali

Visiting officials take a look at a new classroom

Check out our new school - fantastic!!

Kintamani, Bali - September 14th, 2007

Australia Funds Six New Secondary Schools in Bali

Australia is funding the construction of six new schools in Bali, as part of a partnership with Indonesia to raise the standard of basic education across the country.

AusAID Assistant Director General, Mr Alistair Sherwin, and Australian Consul General to Bali, Mr Bruce Cowled join with national & local officials in a ceremony today in Kintamani to celebrate the opening of three new schools in Bali.

The three new junior secondary schools that were inaugurated are SMPN 7 Sukawarna, Kintamani, SMPN 7 Singaraja, and SMPN 4 Bebandem.

Mr Sherwin said the new schools were part of the Rp2,5 trillion Australian Government program to build or expand 2,000 schools in Indonesia, across 20 provinces, from 2006-2009.

“Up to 1,225 of these schools are expected to be completed by early 2008,” Mr Sherwin said during the inauguration ceremony at SMPN 7 Sukawarna, Kintamani.

“This year, we have funded the construction of three secondary schools in Bali. All of these schools are new and local students were able to start classes in these new facilities when the 2007 school term began. I'm pleased to say another three schools will be built here next year.”

Local people are building the schools using locally supplied materials. The school sites have been selected based on assessments of unmet demand, enrolment rates and community involvement.

Ogi Yutarini, KGRE's Office Manager, attended the Official Opening in Kintamani

Here is what Ogi had to say about the event.

SMPN 7 Kintamani is one of the three new schools in Bali built under BEP - 2000 New Schools Program. The other two school are SMPN 4 Bebandem and SMPN 7 Singaraja.

SMP students in Kintamnai with KGRE stickers 'in hand' The opening of the new schools was held on 14th September 2007 at SMPN 7 Kintamani. The ceremony was attended by Bupati Bangli and a representative of the Governor of Bali. The Australian Consul General, Mr Bruce Cowled, officially handed over the school and was accompanied by Mr Alistair Sherwin, Assistant Director General AusAID for the Indonesia Program, Canberra, and Mr Andrew Collins from BEP in Jakarta. The opening ceremony went very well and the 39 students who are enrolled to this new school were happily involved during the ceremony. They welcomed guests, did dancing and singing. Later on Ogi gave KGRE stickers and pins to those students. They were very happy about that. Ogi also asked the Principal to put some copies of KGRE magazine in their new library so it won't be empty anymore.

Archived Australia Indonesia Partnership Reports from Kang Guru

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