Jakarta, IO – Education is the key to increasing human resources, looking to a better future. A good education correlates to a student’s reading ability (literacy skills). Literacy skills cover the ability to absorb, analyze, respond and think critically about information.
Unfortunately, Indonesia is among the countries with relatively low levels of literacy. Kemendikbud.go.id webpage shares the results of a 2018 PISA study released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), showing the average score of Indonesian students’ reading ability is 371, below the average score of 487 set by The OECD. The study was conducted in 2018 with 15-year-old respondents, canvassing students from 79 countries across the world.
The low literacy level has raised concerns among teachers, motivating them to create a community: Komunitas Guru Satkaara Berbagi (Satkaara Teacher Sharing Community – KGSB) and Rumah Guru BK (Consulting Teachers Community – RGBK). The KGSB and the RGBK held a KGSB Webinar titled Increasing Reading Interest in Students Through Reading Aloud, on Saturday, June 11, 2022. KGSB and RGBK collaborated with the Read Aloud Indonesia community (RAI), a group which initiated the reading aloud method in Indonesia.
The webinar was attended by hundreds of teachers and lecturers from PAUD to Universities in Indonesia and Timor Leste. The webinar presented several spokespeople, experts in the reading aloud method, Founder of Reading Bugs and Advisor of RAI, Roosie Setiawan, Activist of Reading Bugs and Advisor of RAI, Ihdinal Hikmatin. Tajdidah, S.s and Founder of the RGBK Teacher’s House and Widyaiswara Kemendikbud, Research and Technology RI, Ana Susanti, M.Pd. CEP, CHt.
Ruth Andriani, as KGSB founder, said that it is vital to foster reading interest in children from an early age. Reading aloud is one of the efforts to instill a love for reading.