Total E&P Indonesie, working with Kutai Kartanegara education office and The Jakarta Post Foundation, organized a Newspapers in Education (NIE) workshop for English teachers early this month in Kalimantan.

As a result of the workshop, the education office plans to establish at least three international-standard schools in the region within several years.

“We target the establishment of a national plus school in the first five years. In five to 10 years we expect an international school in Kutai Kartanegara,” said Judith Navarro Dipodiputro, the corporate communications, government relations and CSR vice president at Total E&P Indonesie.

Judith added that working in a technology-intensive company, she realized that English skills were a must to keep up with the rapid developments in technology, since most source material is written in English.

“The reason why Total E&P Indonesia had chosen to hold the NIE program in Kutai Kartanegara was so the community could compete with groups from big cities,” she said.

City secretary Haryanto Bahrul welcomed the program, saying it was in line with his administration’s target to improve the quality of teachers.

“A program as good as this hopefully will continue … We hope these efforts will improve the English skills of teachers and students,” he said.

Education office head Mohammad Hardi concurred. “We support Total’s target of establishing international schools in the region within 10 years. We also expect an improvement in the quality of teachers will improve welfare of [the local community].”

Teachers participating in the
workshop, held at the Singgasana Hotel in Tenggarong, Kutai Kartanegara, said they enjoyed being part of the activities.

Fadli Yulizannur of SMAN 3 Tenggarong, one of the five best high schools in the region, said the
teaching methods applied in the workshops involved two channels of communication.

“It is time to apply this method in the classroom, where teachers in general are the main actors in the learning process. I hope this program continues,” he said.

Katmiati, a participant from SMPN 4 Loa Janan junior high school, shared a similar experience, but said it was difficult for her school, located in a remote area, to get an English newspaper on a regular basis.

The Jakarta Post Foundation director Riyadi Suparno said the NIE program was a method of teaching English while instilling reading and writing habits through the use of newspapers in the classroom. The program has been carried out worldwide by 200 newspapers that are members of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN).

“The Jakarta Post has been registered with the NIE Institute in Washington, DC, to carry out NIE programs in Indonesia. Since 2007, these programs have involved 2,000 teachers and 4,000 students. These programs have been carried out through sponsorships, such as support from Chevron Indonesia, Exxon and Total E&P Indonesie,” he said.

Seventy-five teachers of 49 schools located in 18 districts took part in the workshop, guided by NIE trainers Trisha Sertori and Martina Zaenal. “We have native speakers as trainers to spark their enthusiasm,” Riyadi said.