Encouraging Student Transition to and Participation in Junior Secondary School
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A DBE3 Study
In June-July 2009, DBE3 conducted a study on transition to and participation in Junior Secondary Schooling. This study included visits to several DBE3 partner districts and one non-DBE district, Jembrana, which has become model district introducing innovations to encourage students’ participation in education.
From the study it was found that to improve the rate of student participation and to minimize the drop out rate, it is essential to apply a holistic approach - a whole school and whole-of-schooling - instead of partial approach. The whole-of-schooling approach is an inclusive concept which focuses on children’s needs, especially for those who require special attention and those who haven’t got a proper education.
The whole-of-school concept focuses on participation from the moment the children leave their home to take part in pre-school education until they finish their education and move into the workforce and especially on the transition phases to different stages of schooling.
Findings
There are some significant findings which show what need to be done to ensure that students’ transition from primary schools to junior secondary schools goes smoothly.
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Besides crucial aspects such as the quality of teachers and schools which are considered the main factors which prevent students from early school leaving, there are other factors to consider.
They are:
The need for district and provincial governments to collect accurate education data for use in education planning.
Efforts to minimize the factors that prevent students from participating in schools. It is also crucial to enroll children in school at the correct age.
Communities and parents should be empowered so that they are aware of their rights and obligations and so they can participate in the democratic management of schools and appropriately support and encourage their own children’s education.
Children should be empowered with appropriate life skills so that they can participate fully in learning activities at schools and will later be able to enter the work force.
(From ‘Transition to and Participation in Junior Secondary School’, by Robert Cannon and Rina Arlianti for DBE3)
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Teaching Practice at RSBI SMPN 1 Watansoppeng:
Making Use of the School Yard
THAT morning, 8th grade students of SMPN 1 Watansoppeng were busy observing flowers in their school yard. In groups, they had to identify the parts of the flowers and their beauty. They looked very serious in their observation. When they had finished the observation, they had discussions with their friends in their groups. In these groups they each told what they had found from their observations. They also shared their feelings about the beauty of the flowers. After sharing and discussing, they wrote poems about what they had seen and felt.
The students did this poetry writing activity in relation to the theme ‘natural beauty’. Two teachers of Bahasa Indonesia assisted the students in writing the poems. Both of them are teachers of SMPN 1 Watansoppeng, a DBE3 partner school which is in the process of becoming an international standard school. The teachers did this as part of teaching practice at BTL2 training conducted by DBE3.
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Making use of the environment: During teaching practice at BTL2 in Soppeng:
(1) Teachers assisted students in identifying flowers in the school yard.
(2) Students did the identification in small groups.
After identifying the flowers, they had group discussion to share what they had found. After the discussion they wrote poems.
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Sharing Innovation in Junior Secondary Education
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Edition 03/August 2009
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