Konferensi Guru Indonesia

The fact that the ranking of competitiveness of Indonesian Human Resources ranks 109 out of 174 countries (according to UNDP research in 2000) should be giving us a signal that the importance of improving the quality of teachers is a long term investment that will improve the human resources of the future.

Data from the National Education Department states that qualified teachers total just 64.1% of junior high school teachers, and only 67.1% for senior high school teachers, should clearly indicate that this situation needs attention.

Many teachers still hold to the paradigm that students should be only taught to pass examinations. This means the teaching is content focused and mostly the chalk and talk method is used.

Referring to the UNESCO 5 Educational Goals that are: “ Learning how to think, Learning How to Do; Learning How to Be; Learning How to Learn; Learning How to Live Together”, teachers need to obtain a vision and information about educational paradigms, various methods of learning including innovative teaching and student learning styles.

Due to this in 2001, the first year of ProVisi Education we decided on 5 programs, among which was to hold a national scale event for teachers to learn together. We requested that the National Education Department and one other educational foundation to join with is to hold an Indonesian Teachers Conference.

We have held two teacher conferences; The Indonesian Teachers Conference (KGI) 2006 at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran and the Indonesian Teachers Conference (KGI) 2007 held at Kartini Goto Soebroto Hall. For further information on these conferences please refer to the ProVisi KGI website.

Teacher Conference 2006

The theme for the first Teacher Conference was; “Towards A Quality School” and 960 participants from teachers/principals and those interested in education from Aceh to Papua were participants. The targets of KGI 2006 were:

• To enthuse teachers and to share knowledge and experiences
• As an activity that gives these quality teachers the highest appreciation
• Gathering together to contribute to the improvement of national education

It was hoped from the 206 KGI that participants broadened their outlook in finding new and better ways to achieve quality education in their respective places. Apart from that, an awareness was created to contribute to the development of education in Indonesia. And individuals were motivated towards self improvement and to implement more effective teaching for the students.

Seminar and Workshop

The conference that was opened by the Indonesian Minister of Education, Bambang Sudbyo, was divided into plenary and parallel sessions. 20 break out presentations were held during the Parallel sessions where participants could chose from a variety of sub themes. Invited speakers were been selected from a panel led by DR.Bedjo Sujanto, Prof. DR. Ki Suproyoko, Mochtak Buchori, Dr. H. Arief Rahman and Dr. Raphy Tobing. Among the speakers for the KGI 2006 were Sunaryo Kartadinata (ektor UPI, Bandung), Peter Kenny (Renaissance College, Hong Kong) St. Kartono (SMA Kolese de Britto, Yogyakarta), Barbara K. Cock (Executive Director Ciputra, Surabaya).

Educational Exhibition

An educational exhibition displaying books by various publishers, educational institutions etc was held on the 6th floor of the J.I.Expo.

Teachers Conference 2007

The theme of the 2007 Teachers Conference was “Creating a Better Community Through Education”, and one of its goals was to direct principals, teachers and participants to work with their community to improve the quality of life of that community.

This conference was held at the Kartini Hall in Jl. Soebroto, Jakarta. The program was divided into plenary and parallel sessions each with different sub themes. Participants could choose sessions according to their needs. Guest speakers led each session. The speakers were selected from their submitted papers. Among others, speakers included: Datuk Kamal Quadra, a past Director of Education, Sabah, Malaysia, Richard F. Henry of Global Jaya school with a paper entitled “ Helping Students to be Self Disciplined” , Drs Fidelis Elisati Waruwu, B.Sc.Ed, M.Sc.Ed with his paper ‘Living Values: An Educational Program”, Bahruddin from Qaryah Thayyibah presenting “Community Based School”and Jurgen Zimmer “School for Life: Community Development through Education”.

An exhibition was held at the KGI 2007 and ProVisi Education put up a booth and gave free educational consulting services and distributed flyers about “Tips and Tools” for visitors to the booth. The flyers contained tips and fresh ideas for teachers to use in the class room.