U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel Visits Papua

The U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel

U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel visits Jayapura on November 5-6 to meet with government officials and community leaders.

Ambassador Marciel’s visit to Papua highlights the United States’ commitment to working across Indonesia to support increased cooperation under the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership. The United States sees Papua as an integral part of Indonesia and supports progress toward increased economic opportunity and development of local political and civil institutions.

During the visit, the Ambassador will highlight new and existing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs that support growth and development for the people of Papua. These programs expand on the U.S. government’s continuing commitment to support development in the region.

Ambassador Marciel met with the Head of Department of Education, Youth and Sport Affairs for Papua, Dr. James Modouw, to discuss the roll out of a new education curriculum for more than 32,000 students in 355 schools across 6 districts.

“A Papua specific curriculum will help inspire Papuan children to learn and will also reflect the profound respect we have for Papua’s rich culture,” said Ambassador Marciel.

The $2.8 million grant from the United States will help the provincial Department of Education to refine, print and distribute the new curriculum, as well as conduct training for teachers.

Under the USAID SERASI program, USAID partners with Yayasan Kristen Wamena Teacher Training Institute to develop curricula in Math and Bahasa Indonesia for first and second graders that are adapted to local culture and meet or surpass national standards.

The Provincial Government of Papua will use the Papua-specific curriculum in remote areas, particularly the broader highland area. Five highland districts and other organizations that work in non-formal or parallel education system will adopt the curriculum.

During his meetings in Papua Ambassador Marciel also discussed other U.S. assistance initiatives in health, environment, economic development, and governance.

The United States is providing $1.5 million in support through a new USAID program that will reduce deforestation, preserve biodiversity, and increase income for Papuans by promoting sustainable management of the Cyclops mountain range.

Ambassador Marciel said, “The United States is proud to partner with the Papua Provincial Government Low Carbon Development Taskforce and local governments and communities to reduce deforestation in the Cyclops mountain range and preserve it for future generations.”

The USAID program will partner with local governments, businesses, and communities to promote renewable biomass energy as an alternative to cutting down trees to be converted to charcoal. The program will be including plant trees and rehabilitate areas that are essential to the health of the Cyclops mountain range and provide water supply for the city of Jayapura.

In addition, the program will convene forums in local communities to educate citizens, local governments, the private sector, and NGOs on strategies to improve the management of natural resources.

The USAID program in the Cyclops Mountains will help Papua fulfill its commitment and contribute to REDD+, a global initiative to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

USAID is also working with local governments in Papua to finalize a new health governance program to support improvements in the quality of public health service in several districts.

The program plans to target improving service delivery in the areas of maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. This initiative will utilize the lessons from successful USAID efforts in other Indonesian provinces that have improved the quality, effectiveness, and reliability of public services.

Source: Tempointeraktif

Indonesia to set up sport school in Papua next year

Papua provincial administration plans to build a sport school next year in the province, in a bid to find and develop promising young athletes as early as possible, local official said on Tuesday.

Papua Education, Youth and Sports Agency chief James Modouw said that the school would be at levels equivalent to junior and senior high school.

“We will recruit talented teenagers from all over Papua as students,” he said, adding that the administration plans to recruit 600 students.

Modouw said that the school’s curriculum would comprise 60 percent of sports and 40 percent of regular classes.

Modouw added that the schedule of the regular classes would be adjusted to the students’ training sessions.

“For example, they train from 6 am to 9 am, followed by regular classes until 3 pm. After finishing the classes, maybe they will go straight to another training session until 6 pm,” he said.

After undergoing trainings in the school, accomplished students will be further trained by the National Sports Committee (KONI), according to Modouw.

Source: Global Times

PNG students study Indonesian in Jayapura

Dozens of Papua New Guinean students are visiting Jayapura, the capital of the Indonesian province of Papua, to study Indonesian.

The students are from several schools at the University of Papua New Guinea, and are visiting Jayapura’s Cenderawasih University, among other places, Papua administration official Elly Loupatty said in Jayapura on Monday (14/11).

“They like learning Indonesian, and they chose Papua to further learn the language, as part of their studies,” Elly said.

“They will visit Cenderawasih University to study. They’ve asked about a lot of things — about education here from elementary school to high school and higher education, as well as about Papuan students’ views on Indonesia,” he added.

Elly said the Papua New Guinean students would be in Jayapura until Nov. 23.

He added the Papua administration welcomed them, as the visit would hopefully strengthen ties between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Chief of Papua Education, Youth and Sports Agency James Modouw, meanwhile, said the Indonesian study program was part of a long-established education partnership between the governments of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Source: The Jakarta Post