Coordinating Ministry For Human Development And Culture Encourages Literacy To Become A Joint Movement

Didik Suhardi/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Deputy for Coordination of Mental Revolution, Cultural Advancement and Improvement of Sports Achievement at the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (Kemenko PMK) Didik Suhardi encourages all parties to make literacy a joint movement.

“There needs to be a joint movement for this literacy program. Not only from the central and regional governments, but the community can develop reading gardens," said Didik at a press conference for the 2022 National Coordination Meeting for Libraries in Jakarta, Thursday, March 24.

Didik added that the government could add to the collection of the community-initiated reading garden. Without a joint movement, continued Didik, people will have difficulty in accessing reading materials.

"The most important thing to do is to bring reading access closer to the community, by increasing public space so that people can easily access reading materials," he explained.

He explained that the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture has compiled a roadmap for literacy culture. The literacy culture is carried out in three ways, namely family, school and community. The main priority is literacy culture through the family which is carried out by inviting children to enjoy reading materials.

Next in the education unit, where the literacy provided is not only knowledge literacy but also cultural literacy. Next, is literacy culture through the community which is done by increasing public space.

"Literacy is not just the ability to read and write, but the ability to absorb knowledge and make it a capital for a better life," he added.

The head of the National Library of Indonesia, Muhammad Syarif Bando, said that Indonesian people's interest in reading is not low. The main problem is the lack of access to reading in the community so that people prefer to read information on social media compared to books.

Therefore, in the National Coordination Meeting for Library Sector which will be held from March 29 to March 30, 2022, the issue of the lack of access to reading materials is discussed. The National Coordination Meeting carries the theme of Library Transformation to Realize a National Digital Ecosystem.