Teachers Appreciate PT IRT's Attention To PAUD Development In Cilegon

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - About one kilometer at an altitude of approximately 100 meters above sea level, staying at Mr. Sunar's house in the Buah Dodol neighborhood, Suralaya Village, Pulomerak District, Cilegon City, an Early Childhood Education (PAUD) learning activity took place. Activities at PAUD Al-Amin have been running for two years.

Now, new hopes for PAUD are growing. Donations from many parties, including PT IRT as the manager of the Java 9&10 PLTU, also made the teachers and managers enthusiastic about the better operation of this pre-school facility in the future.

"Hopefully the construction of the Al-Amin PAUD building can be completed soon, so that it can be functioned and put to good use," said Siti Anastasya Putri or often called Tasya, one of the Al-Amin PAUD teachers who has taught there for two years.

"We teachers are only able to be grateful and grateful for the hands of donors who have paid attention to the world of education, in this case, hopefully PT IRT while running a business will be blessed," continued Tasya, in a statement received by the VOI editor.

The enthusiasm of local residents to send their children to PAUD is indeed quite high. The teachers, who are actually the Suralaya community, are also motivated to continue to serve for the sake of equal distribution of children's education before elementary school (SD), even though they operate modestly. In fact, so far the pre-school education facilities are staying at people's homes, and operational funds are obtained from non-governmental organizations.

Seeing the need for an early childhood education building, on Tuesday 30 November PT IRT together with the main contractor for the construction of the Java 9&10 PLTU, jointly inspected the location of the PAUD building construction and provided cash assistance of Rp. 10 million. The provision of cash assistance was given to the Head of Development Executor, Arifin, witnessed by the Head of the RT and the Head of the local RW.

Tasya, who is a local resident as a teacher, explained the teaching and learning activities at PAUD Al-Amin in the Buah Dodol neighborhood. Currently there are 18 students consisting of 12 students from class B, 6 students from class A. This year, one batch has graduated.

He and his fellow teachers expressed their joy at the attention of IRT and the main contractor for the Java 9&10 PLTU. With the funding for the construction of the PAUD building, the teachers hope that educational operations can be carried out even better.

On the other hand, from PT IRT, Tammy Zacharias said that health and education are part of the company's sustainable program. PAUD Al-Amin is a field of education that must receive attention.

"Hopefully the assistance provided by PT IRT is useful," said Tammy.

Education initiation

Tammy also agrees that community self-help in making PAUD Al-Amin is an important educational initiation. IRT, according to him, will also pay attention to this educational facility in the future.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Al-Amin PAUD Development Executive, who is also a Suralaya Sub-district staff, Arifin, said that the construction of this PAUD building was sourced from non-governmental organizations.

"With the assistance from PT IRT, hopefully it can help smooth the construction of the PAUD building which is located next to the Posyandu building. The target for this building is to be completed in the next one or two months," said Arifin.

Early Childhood Education is something that absolutely needs to be considered. According to the United Nations (UN), education for children under the age of 8 determines the development of a child's brain in the future.

In Indonesia, early childhood education itself is realized in the form of preschool education called PAUD for children 0-6 years. The Ministry of Education and Culture stated that the purpose of PAUD was held so that children were better prepared before entering further education.

Regarding PAUD, the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Mendikbud Ristek) Nadiem Makarim stated on a different occasion that there was a very large correlation between the quality of PAUD and the quality of student learning outcomes.

He said, apart from having fun, the quality of PAUD can be seen from the relevance of student preparation in the future. Or, not limited to reading, writing, and arithmetic (calistung).

The core of the PAUD curriculum, he said, is playing. He emphasized that if games are not the core of the PAUD curriculum, children will not reach their optimal learning potential, because learning activities are considered unpleasant.

"Motivation is the key. If they are not motivated, it is the same as lying. They do not learn in that situation," he said, in a report.