West Papua is lagging behind in the economic sector, people’s welfare, and the academic sector. Papua has many human resources that have the potential to improve the welfare of the people on the island.
In order to prepare schools to enter the era of the industrial revolution 4.0, the Ministry of Education and Culture has developed a school digitization program. Some places and regions in the western part of Indonesia.
The education minister stated that the development program would be prepared through the School Operational Assistance (BOS) fund, affirmations, and performance. The government also stated that this program would be in line with the president’s directive to prepare human resources.
The government hopes that next year this can continue and grow. It is also hoped that the funds spent are not only from the boss’s funds. That way, the digitization of this school can run as quickly as possible.
Preparation of human resources that will meet the 4.0 revolution, the President asked the minister to pay attention to the 3T area in order to get educational facilities. This also applies to supporting infrastructure facilities and buildings.
The government must immediately realize the use of information and communication technology to accelerate access to education services in suburban areas. One of the challenges in the world of education in Indonesia today is access to education in rural areas.
In addition, the next challenge is a character education and technological developments that must be balanced with skills and abilities. In addition to hard skills, students must also be equipped with good soft skills.
Accelerate and Improve Access to Education in West Papua with Academic Digitization
To accelerate education services in underdeveloped areas, through the digitization of schools. In addition to regular BOS funds, the government also provides affirmative BOS funds which are used to support routine operations and accelerate learning.
The allocation of funds to be given to suburban areas is Rp 2.85 trillion. Meanwhile, now it is also prepared and a performance BOS of Rp 1.49 trillion and allocated for schools that are considered to be performing well in the provision of education services.
Technical instructions for the use of these funds are also regulated in the Minister of Education and Culture Regulation. As a first step, the school digitization program will be realized for 31,387 schools through funds that have been determined by the government.
Through this program, the government will also provide learning facilities in schools in the form of tablet computers to 1,753,000 students throughout Indonesia. This is especially true in areas that are on the outskirts.
To ensure the use of learning facilities that function properly, the government cooperates with various other institutions. For internet network and electricity supply, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Communication will cooperate.
This has also been discussed with several ministerial officials regarding the collaboration carried out to support the digitalization of West Papua in the field of education. This plan was also welcomed by the government and ministry agencies.
Providing Access to Quality Education in the West Papua Region
The school digitization program is a new breakthrough by utilizing the development of information and communication technology for the teaching and learning process. It will also be easier for teachers and students to access teaching materials.
The teacher will create courses that will be accessed directly by students. In addition, the teacher community can work together to make digital teaching materials, make daily exam tests together both outside the network and online at this time.
Various facilities are fulfilled by the government to support technological advancements and school digitization programs. School students must be able to master technology that is always evolving along with changing times and globalization.
We must get used to it and always keep up with the times so as not to be left behind by other countries. Especially with pandemic conditions like this, we have to be easy to adapt to every situation and condition that always changes at a fast frequency.
The tablet computers distributed by the government will be filled with electronic book applications and home study applications that will be used to access materials with or without an internet network so that students are not hampered in the learning process.
The Government Program for Academic Digitization in West Papua
The government’s goal of providing students with tablet computers is to make them easy to carry and lightweight. In addition, the application is easy to update and easy for students to modify by watching learning videos.
By providing facilities and improving the quality of teachers, it is hoped that this can help the community participate in learning. Whereas we know, the learning process is now hampered face-to-face due to the pandemic.
• BOS funding
The BOS funds provided by the government already have their respective allocations and designations. In addition to fixing student facilities, BOS funds are also used to pay the wages of existing teachers so that students get better teaching.
• Training for teachers
Teachers should also be given training on how to operate digital tools. This is reasonable because the West Papua region can still be regarded as an underdeveloped region. In addition, this training should also be given to students in order to understand its application.
• Providing learning facilities
One form of government concern for academic digitization, the government distributes a number of tablet computers throughout Indonesia. This will mainly be allocated to students and educators in the West Papua.
