JICA Extend Support to JPP Project (IEPF in Collaboration with Yayasan Semarak) for Environmental Education in Remote Islands.

Under the JICA Partnership Program (JPP), Indonesian Education Promoting Foundation (IEPF) collaborated with Yayasan Semarak and the Education Department to support environmental education for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in remote islands using digital teaching material and Japanese-style lesson study. The selected remote islands for this environmental education pilot project include Komodo island and Messah island, both of which face environmental challenges and nature resources concern.

Supported by JICA, IEPF and West Manggarai government demonstrate an effort to address environmental education concerns. The program aligns with national education policies and global sustainability agenda and provides specific insights to the environmental challenges faced by remote islands. From this project, hoping that government officials can scaling up initiatives to the broader scale.

This project introduces a transformative environmental education curriculum, with a focus on its direct impact on students’ awareness and behaviour concerning environmental issues especially in remote islands like Komodo island and Messah island. This project has been started and scheduled for completion in 2025.

As part of the program, JICA Indonesia and IEPF visited Elementary School of Komodo Island (SDN Pulau Komodo) and Elementary School of Messah Island (SDN Pulau Messah) to conduct observations for environmental education through digital teaching implementation. The observations play a crucial role in the project, enabling the digital team to develop environmental teaching materials and support environmental education in a remote island setting, including content related to Komodo National Park.

The digital teaching materials offer captivating feature including video, audio, quizzes, and interactive elements that engage students. Icons trigger images when clicked, making learning visually enriching. Students can complete their worksheets online and seamlessly send them to their teachers via email.

An important achievement is the integration of environmental education materials into the local curriculum, spanning from kindergarten up to senior high school. Yasunobu Kuboki as project manager of IEPF has expressed optimism regarding the program’s potential. “I hope this digital book can be used across Indonesia, not limited to pilot projects in Tabanan or East Nusa Tenggara but nationwide, with support from the Ministry of Education or education bureaus for dissemination of the digital book”, Mr. Yasunobu stated.