During the week of National Education Day which occurs in May, Project Child Indonesia (PCI) launched an exciting new program about Internet Literacy. The Internet Literacy Program aims to educate Indonesian primary school children about the benefits of the internet, introduce them to coding, and how to use the internet safely and responsibly. At the initial stage, the program will be implemented in 3 primary schools in Yogyakarta, namely SD Negeri Bumijo, SD Negeri Bangunrejo I and SD Negeri Vidya Qasana.
The demographics of internet users in Indonesia is dominated by the younger generation, where as many as 35.6 million (26.9%) of total 132.7 million internet users in Indonesia are youth, ranged from 10-24 years old (APJII, 2016). However, there is a gap between the digital literacy education in Indonesia with the ease of accessing the internet, where internet usage is a 75% penetration between 10-24 year old demographics. In addition, there has been no structured digital literacy education in Indonesia. In Yogyakarta, most schools cannot afford to have a computer for a teacher due to strict budgets, let alone establish a computer lab.
Through this program, students will be given digital literacy education about from a basic introduction to computers and the internet, how to use the internet safely and responsibly, introduction to coding and programming as well as how to utilize the internet for their self-development. This education program will provid the students from grade 4 and 5 with a fun method by using computer labs provided by our partner, Gameloft Indonesia. The program is aimed to fill the gap between the high internet usage penetration with low digital literacy in Indonesia and to encourage the younger generation in Indonesia to be able to boost the growth of digital and creative industries in Indonesia.
The program has gone through a series of research on digital literacy in Indonesia. The program has curriculum tailored to the conditions of the digital literacy among elementary school students in Indonesia. Volunteers play the vital role to make sure the program is running well. In the early stages of this program, Project Child Indonesia interviewed and recruited 14 volunteers who have gone through training before they can teach in the program. In later stages, Project Child Indonesia hopes to expand this program to more schools in Yogyakarta and Indonesia.
Project Child Indonesia also calls for an active public participation in providing internet literacy education in Indonesia. Anyone can participate actively as volunteers or donate computers to build a computer lab in the elementary schools which cannot afford to finance the construction and development of one. To actively participate, visit the Project Child web page and if you have any questions on how to help this program please contact us via email: program@projectchild.ngo. [Abie Zaidannas]
