USAID Partner Universities Improving the Quality of Teaching

June 20, 2006

The United States, through USAID, announced today that it has signed partnership agreements with 15 Indonesian universities and the Ministry of National Education's Center for Communication and Information Technology to develop in-service teacher education programs focusing on improving the quality of primary education in Indonesia.

USAID will invest $4.78 million in this University Partnership Program, which is an important component of President Bush's Education Initiative in Indonesia. The University Partnership Program brings together Indonesian universities, the Ministry of National Education and three U.S. universities.

“Collaboration with local universities is important to ensure that teaching modules meet local needs, are effective and sustainable,” said USAID Mission Director William M. Frej. “The University Partnership Program is collaborating with U.S. universities to enhance the capacity of Indonesian universities to provide high quality in-service teacher education.”

The decentralized in-service teacher training model is supported by modules created at partner universities in each province. A variety of stakeholders are integrated into the module develpment process to ensure well-balanced and applicable content and methodology.

Module Development Teams include university faculty, representatives from the local Education Office and Department of Religious Affairs, teachers and principals.

The University Partnership Program is part of the Decentralized Basic Education program (DBE2), implemented by the Education Development Center, which works to enhance the school environment as an arena for student learning and community participation. Activities under DBE2 focus on decentralized teacher training, early childhood education, university partnerships, resource development using Information and Communications Technology, school library development, and public-private alliances to strengthen Indonesia’s primary education system.

The first phase of the DBE program includes 1,000 schools involving more than 10,000 teachers in seven provinces. Ultimately, DBE plans to reach more than 9,000 schools in Indonesia.

For more information on DBE2 Decentralized Basic Education Programs and a list of University Partners, contact Yulianti Susilo at 0812-1091175, or ysusilo@edc.org  and visit http://indonesia.usaid.gov.

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