Jakarta, November 26, 2024 – Stunting and healthy lifestyle issues among children have become pressing public health concerns. Children need health education to foster a smart and healthy future generation. However, such health materials often fail to effectively reach children due to monotonous and unengaging teaching methods.

Thus, creative and interactive health teaching methods are essential to ensure children can receive, process, and apply healthy habits in their daily lives. Teaching materials, such as the “Ayo Sehat” (“Let’s Be Healthy”) module from the Ministry of Health (MoH), are already available.

To teach these modules effectively, teachers need to prepare themselves by enhancing their capacity and creativity to capture students’ interest. As highlighted by Edy Gunawan from the East Kalimantan Health Office, appropriate and engaging health education can positively impact children’s health.

“Teachers and educators are expected to continuously develop teaching methods, especially those provided by the MoH. Non-monotonous methods can ultimately change students’ behavior towards healthier lifestyles,” he emphasized.

The need for creativity in teaching, including health education, is acknowledged by educators. Religious studies teacher at SMPN 2 Semarang, Ika Suryani, stated that students need to be taught and encouraged to practice healthy lifestyles consistently in ways that capture their attention.

However, many teachers lack the required skills. Hence, Ika emphasizes the importance of training for teachers to create interactive learning models and environments. Engaging teaching models are necessary across all subjects, including literacy, numeracy, and health education.

“From how to apply it to students to habituating it in daily school practices—I hope what I’ve learned can be shared with colleagues, at school, through MGMP (Subject Teachers’ Working Group), and on larger platforms,” explained Ika.

Ika is one of the recipients of the “Award for Active Teachers in Implementing Health Teaching Tools” as part of the Ministry of Health’s Health Innovation Festival (HAI Fest). This competition showcased teachers’ creativity in teaching health materials to students.

For Ika, creative teaching methods are not new. She previously attended training sessions by Tanoto Foundation, an independent philanthropic organization in education founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto in 1981, as her school is a partner. Ika wasn’t alone—two other teachers trained under the PINTAR (Promoting Innovation and Improving the Quality of Education) program by Tanoto Foundation also received awards: Ariepina from TK Negeri Pembina Tenggarong and Sri Nurhayati from SDN 003 Tenggarong.

Names and schools of teachers (from left to right): Ika Suryani, MPd (SMPN 2 Semarang), Sri Nurhayati, SPd (SDN 003 Tenggarong), and Ariepina, SPd (TK Negeri Pembina Tenggarong).

“I received training from Tanoto Foundation, so when I joined this competition, the material wasn’t unfamiliar, and I could implement it in teaching. Besides literacy and numeracy, the health education materials were also very helpful for classroom learning,” said Ariepina.

She noted facing several challenges during the MoH competition but overcame them with the support of Tanoto Foundation’s teaching modules and local government backing. “There were many challenges, but thankfully we managed to get through them,” Ariepina said during the awards ceremony at the Jakarta Convention Center on Saturday, November 9, 2024.

Sri Nurhayati from SDN 003 Tenggarong also shared her familiarity with creative teaching materials, ensuring students wouldn’t get bored during lessons.

“Tanoto Foundation has provided such training, so we’re not surprised or overwhelmed when faced with competition materials like this,” Sri said with a smile.

Sri hopes creative teaching training for teachers can be expanded. She herself is ready to support the development of such educational models to help children easily understand and apply the materials. “In the future, I plan to disseminate these methods to colleagues through study groups in schools,” she added.

Head of Quality Assurance and PAUD & Non-formal and Informal Education Institutions, Kutai Kartanegara Education Office, Ida Wahyu Sayekti, emphasized the importance of creative teaching training for teachers.

Ida stated that support from all stakeholders is necessary to develop creative teaching approaches, noting that government programs often lag behind initiatives by non-governmental organizations.

“The assistance from Tanoto Foundation has been very meaningful for us, especially in schools. Their programs are more routine and intensive. The government may just launch a program, but Tanoto has already implemented it, which has greatly helped us, even leading to national-level achievements,” she explained.

Ida hopes collaboration between ministries, local governments, and philanthropic organizations like Tanoto Foundation continues. This will ensure creative teaching training, including health education, reaches more schools and teachers.

“We will follow up by participating in all dissemination events so that education quality improves and issues like stunting and other health concerns are addressed,” she concluded.

***

About Tanoto Foundation

Tanoto Foundation is an independent philanthropic organization in education founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto in 1981, driven by the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to realize their full potential. Its programs are grounded in the belief that quality education accelerates equal opportunities. Tanoto Foundation strives to unlock potential and improve lives through quality education, from early childhood to productive adulthood. Its three commitment pillars are enhancing learning environments, developing future leaders, and facilitating medical research.

For further information, please contact:

Tanoto Foundation Communications Team

Email: communications@tanotofoundation.org

Website: www.tanotofoundation.org