Non-formal Education
YMP3 facilitates monthly Papua Literacy Network meetings and training activities.
- Since its inception in 2008, the network has welcomed those who want to work together to nurture literacy in Papua, from both government and private sectors.
- Initially, those who attended the literacy network meetings were tutors of adults and children who have never had an opportunity to learn to read, have dropped out of school, or children currently enrolled in school but are doing poorly because they cannot read. Early childhood education teachers heard about the network and also began to attend the meetings. As word of the Papua Literacy Network has spread, kindergarten teachers, elementary school teachers, Sunday school teachers, and people who run small community libraries have also sometimes joined the activities. One of the participants said, “I used to be frustrated, without hope, and ready to give up teaching my reading group of adult learners. I was reenergized after becoming involved in the activities of the Papua Literacy Network.” Another person said, “Thank you, Papua Literacy Network! Where else would I get high quality training like this, to help me be a better tutor!”
- A typical Papua Literacy Network meeting gives opportunity for participants to share news regarding their literacy activities and learn from one another. Then participants learn new teaching methods and approaches, taught by YMP3 literacy personnel, guest staff from the Department of Education, and experienced tutors and teachers from other organizations. Topics for these presentations are chosen in response to the needs expressed by the literacy network participants, and most often include hands-on practice of new skills.
- YMP3 also holds workshops for Papua Literacy Network participants to help improve their teaching skills. Topics have included learning styles, multiple intelligences, teaching creatively, using games to teach, how to write stories, and practical ways to help learners who have learning disabilities.
- The Papua Literacy Network has been involved in and has held International Literacy Day celebrations. These events have involved 200-400 people, including those learning to read in non-formal education groups such as adults and children in programs at community learning centers and other small groups, their tutors and teachers, government officials, and others concerned about the problem of illiteracy in Papua.
YMP3 offers literacy consultations to those from several organizations who are working in local language groups.
Approximately 270 languages are spoken in Papua (the provinces of Papua and West Papua). These people groups value their place in the Republic of Indonesia and the use of the Indonesian language and also wish to preserve their cultural identity through preserving their language, including the ability to read and write their language. And that is what government push in every tribe community, to keep the cultures in Indonesia as a treasures of nation. Some of these groups presently use only their mother tongue. By learning to read in the language they use every day, they gain a solid foundation for becoming literate in the Indonesian language.
YMP3 develops literacy materials that can be of help to those teaching in Indonesian language and mother tongue literacy programs.
These include training materials to upgrade tutors and literacy teachers and teaching aids that can assist literacy tutors and teachers to teach more creatively and effectively. Easy-reading books are also developed, in the Indonesian language and local languages. Literacy tutors and early childhood education teachers are also taught how they can create their own teaching aids using locally available materials, and how to write stories for and with the learners, to enhance the learning process.
