Jakarta, 12 December 2023 - PT Bank Central Asia Tbk's (BCA) commitment to accelerate the improvement of education quality in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is beginning to yield positive results. Through the "Ksatria BCA" program, which aims to improve students' basic literacy, the company supports teacher competency improvement programs in some elementary schools in Kupang City and Soe City. As a result, students' basic literacy has shown a significant improvement.
Started in December 2022, the Ksatria BCA program specifically targets the literacy skills of elementary school students through teacher competency development programs and sharing good practices in schools and communities. A number of activities generated by the program have an impact on student habituation including motor gymnastics, various literacy activities, and various disciplinary activities such as marching before entering class, marking the attendance list independently, and cleaning the classroom before going home. From 21 selected schools in Kupang City and Soe, a total of 71 teachers and 3,651 students were affected by the program.
Assessment results from the Ksatria BCA program showed that students' proficiency as fluent readers increased by 17.3%. Meanwhile, the number of students who could not read decreased by 11.78%. This can be seen in detail in the results of the reading ability of 378 students through the EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment) Test, one of which can be seen in the achievements of grade III students whose fluent reading skills increased sharply and even exceeded the MNP (Maluku, Nusa Tenggara, and Papua) regional average. In line with this, the quality of teachers has also improved in terms of knowledge, pedagogy, and classroom management that support the implementation of student literacy.
The head of SD Inpres Nunumeu, Yakoba Saekoko, said that the students' literacy skills have improved significantly over the past year. Yakoba believes that his students are now more focused and disciplined, which has improved their ability to absorb the lessons.
"I observed how the children in an orderly manner attended lessons at school. Before that, there were a handful of children who did not attend because they were bored with our old teaching methods. But since we have been running the Ksatria BCA program, especially the SMART gymnastics, the children don't want to be late for school to join the gymnastics," said Yakoba.
SMART Gymnastics (Senam Motorik Aktif Riang Sehat) is one of the important instruments to build discipline and focus of students by stimulating their motor sensors before starting learning in class. In this way, children are expected to be ready to absorb teaching materials in the classroom. Thus, this program is designed to present an innovative solution to the educational challenges faced by primary schools in NTT.
BCA CSR VP Krisbiakto Cahyo Adi explained that preparing children's physical and mental conditions before starting teaching and learning activities is one of the keys to this program. "We understand that not all students are always ready to learn in class. In collaboration with Kuark International, we provide training to educators to create a comfortable and fun classroom atmosphere. We hope this activity can contribute to improving the quality of education in NTT," said Kris.
The ability for teachers to ensure the program runs well is also a new challenge. Both principals and teachers from the 21 schools selected for the program were trained to understand the purpose and application of the teaching methods. The program believes that teacher competence and classroom management are key to boosting students' literacy skills.
Will Be Adopted in Other School
The Education and Culture Offices of South Central Timor District and Kupang City appreciate the Ksatria BCA program. Head of the Culture and Culture Office of South Central Timor District Musa S. Benu said that his office plans to adopt the program to accelerate the improvement of the quality of education in the region. A similar plan was also expressed by the Head of the Kupang City Education and Culture Office Dumuliahi Djami.
“After we followed the activites for the past year, we are determined to implement this program for schools that are ready. We hope that the impact and follow it progress, other schools will be able to gain knowledge from the pilot school. We consider the Ksatria BCA program as the starting point for us to encourage increased literacy in South Central Timor," said Musa.
BCA EVP Corporate Communication and Responsibility Hera F. Haryn stated that BCA will not stop at this program in encouraging equitable quality of education in Indonesia. To date, a number of programs have been launched by Bakti BCA Education to support the country's ideals in advancing education in the country. Some of them include BCA Sharing Knowledge, Bakti BCA Scholarship, Bakti BCA Assisted Schools, Financial Literacy, and other programs.
The Ksatria BCA program is a further commitment from Bakti BCA Pendidikan to support the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) program as well as the equitable distribution of education and financial literacy of the younger generation, especially in the face of the peak demographic bonus in 2030.
"We are proud to be able to continue to contribute and have a positive impact on education in Indonesia through Bakti BCA, especially through the Ksatria BCA program in NTT. We hope that our contribution can ignite a greater fire of enthusiasm and inspiration for teachers and policy makers in the education sector in preparing the next generation of the nation," concluded Hera.
Photo Caption I:
Gathering Spirit with Motoric Gymnastics - Students of SD Inpres Nunumeu, Soe, South Central Timor, NTT, start their school activities with SMART (Active Motoric Gymnastics Riang Sehat). This gymnastics is part of the activities introduced in the Ksatria BCA program so that children's motor skills are ready to absorb learning in the classroom.
Photo caption II:
Teachers are the key - One of the focused Ksatria BCA programs was giving teachers training for them to be able to make teaching and learning activites to be more interesting and relevant to the needs of the students.
*****
About PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (as of 30 September 2023)
BCA is one of the leading commercial banks in Indonesia with the core business of transaction banking. BCA also offers a full range of financial services in consumer, SME, commercial and corporate segments. As of September 2023, BCA has the privilege of serving nearly 39 million customer accounts, processing around 81 million of daily transactions through a network of 1,252 branches; 18,705 ATMs as well as the 24-hour internet & mobile banking systems; supported by 24/7 Halo BCA contact center. BCA’s presence is complemented by a number of subsidiaries focusing on vehicle financing, sharia banking, securities, general and life insurance, digital bank, remittance as well as venture capital business. BCA is committed to building lasting relationship with customers, putting people first, and making positive impact on society at large. With around 25,000 employees, BCA’s vision is to be the bank of choice and a major pillar of the Indonesia economy.
PT BANK CENTRAL ASIA TBK
Group Corporate Communication and Social Responsibility - CSR
Corporate Communication
Address : Jl. MH Thamrin No. 1
Menara BCA Lt. 22
Jakarta Pusat 10310
Telephone : (021) 2358-8000
Fax : (021) 2358-8339
E-mail : corcom_bca@bca.co.id
