Unpad Lecturer Gives Expertise in Meeting with Commission X DPR RI
Jakarta – In formulating a policy, the government should take into account the opinions of the community. One part of the community is the academicians as they are able to provide insights from a scientific perspective.
In line with this, a number of lecturers of the Library and Information Science study program of the Faculty of Communication Sciences, Universitas Padjadjaran were invited to become speakers in a Public Hearing Meeting with the Working Committee on Increasing Literacy and Library Personnel of Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR). This activity was held in the Meeting Room of Commission X DPR RI in Jakarta on Tuesday (20/6/2023).
Before proceeding to the main session, the Chairman of the meeting, Dr. H. Abdul Fikri Faqih, MM delivered his opening remarks. The meeting was then followed by the presentation of speakers invited from various institutions, both government and universities.
The invited speakers come from Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Padjadjaran, Universitas Yarsi, and Universitas Diponegoro’s Library Science study program, as well as the Roadmap Preparation to Strengthen Literacy of the Coordinating Ministry for PMK Task Force.
In this occasion, the speakers from the Library and Information Science study program at Universitas Padjadjaran were represented by Dr. Ute Lies Siti Khadijah, Dr. Elnovani Lusiana, Asep Saeful Rohman, and Andri Yanto.
Some of the main issues discussed in the meeting were the opportunities and challenges of literacy and library staff in Indonesia, university support for increasing awareness on the importance of literacy, a survey of the needs and competence of Library Science study program graduates, as well as input and policy suggestions in order to improve literacy quality and library staff.
Responding to these issues, lecturers of the Library and Information Science study program at Fikom Unpad provided some input. Unpad lecturers argue that it is important for the government to play an active role as the party in charge of literacy and libraries by optimizing the implementation of existing policies as a form of an attempt to enhance literacy and resources of library personnel, especially librarians.
On the other hand, Unpad lecturers also suggested that the government should consider a policy revision in the library and education sectors or other sectors that play an important role in increasing public awareness on literacy. This is considered vital as there are no regulations that directly regulate issues and aspects on literacy and efforts to improve it.
It is also expected that there will be adjustments to the technical regulations contained in Law Act 43/2007 on library personnel. This is decided as the library personnels have important duties, functions and roles in improving the literacy of the community, parallel with the educators.
There will also likely be a revision of Permendiknas 25/2008 on the standard of school library personnel that needs to be adjusted to Permendikbud 6/2019 related to the recognition of the Functional Librarian nomenclature in schools.
On the one hand, both the Central and Local Governments must commit to accepting library and information science graduates, as well as library vocational education with the aim of meeting the needs of library management professionals in accordance with national standards. This is necessary so that libraries can function properly and contribute to improving community literacy.
Asep Saeful Rohman highlighted the urgency of school libraries as a form of effort to improve literacy in educational areas as the indicator of literacy value is based on the students’ mastery of literacy and their ability to read.
Responding all the inputs and suggestions presented in the meeting, the Working Committee on Literacy Improvement and Library Workers (PLTP) of Commission X of the House of Representatives believes that coordination and collaboration between the government, educational institutions, and industry, as well as the community, urgently need to be maximized so that there is alignment towards literacy program policies and librarians.
Character strengthening, assessment methods tailored to Indonesian contexts, and the procurement of the Literacy Bill are also needed. Furthermore, an additional budget for the National Library of Indonesia is also required to support literacy rates and library staff.
It is also crucial for the government to ensure the welfare of librarians by providing PPPK formations, career paths, and scholarship support for librarians.
Through this RDPU, both the government and higher education institutions expressed their hope that the literacy rate of Indonesian society can increase, which is also supported by various library institutions and the strengthening of library personnel.
Writer: Maria Imanuella Dewi Sekartaji
Translator: Dhia Anaulva Putri
