EDC’s initiative to decentralize and revitalize Indonesia’s schools by improving the quality of teaching has taken root in 535 schools and will ultimately include more than 2,000 schools in the world’s fourth most populous country. The USAID-funded project, Decentralized Basic Education 2 (DBE2), is moving schools away from a rote-memorization tradition to a more “interactive approach with students working together on projects,” says EDC’s seven provinces.”
The multimillion dollar, five-year project, managed by EDC’s International Development Division (IDD), focuses on helping local districts take on management of schools that were formerly run by the national government. By May 2010, the project will be active in at least 100 districts, says Calvano.
Project staff in Jakarta recently celebrated their first successful year, along with the commemoration of an agreement with 15 Indonesian universities and the Ministry of National Education’s Center for Communication and Information Technology to develop teacher education programs based on the EDC approach.
“Our teachers are the true pioneers and heroes of our societies, and the future of our planet rests in the hands of the young people they teach,” said EDC President and CEO Luther Luedtke, in a speech at the Jakarta ceremony. Congratulating staff on the agreement, Luedtke noted, “This university partnership allows the project to reach more than 300,000 teachers in training, and thousands of schools in
Originally published on September 1, 2006
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