VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mayor of Salatiga and The Head of National Library officialy open the Silent Cafe - 

The Salatiga Silent Cafe is a form of actualization of literacy classes in the social inclusion-based library transformation program (TPBIS) managed by the Salatiga City Library and Archives Service by involving the Deaf Friends Community. Uniquely, consumers who want to order coffee must use the signal symbols posted on the table. This is the main attraction.

The cafe, which was formed in November 2022, is now part of the Salatiga regional public library. For people with disabilities who are deaf and mute, this cafe is a place for socializing, creating creations and increasing their own welfare.

Acting Mayor of Salatiga Sinoeng Noegroho Rachmadi said that apart from the existence of the Silent Cafe, the Salatiga City public library also presented a superior innovation program for early childhood called SINISA (Salatiga early literacy).

"The form of SINISA is reading books for toddlers. And given free to young children as the first book. This is an effort to support the creation of a literacy family in Salatiga City," added the Acting Mayor.

The SINISA book contains aspects of intelligence which include linguistic (verbal), mathematical logic, spatial intelligence (room), kinesthetic intelligence (physical and movement), and musical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence (inside).

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Monday, the innovation of the SINISA program has the full support of the Head of the National Library, Muhammad Syarif Bando. The intentions and efforts made by the Salatiga municipal government should have been given that the task of educating the nation's children has been written in the mandate of the 1945 Constitution.

“Our current challenge is the digital era. Because when educational assignments are given and students are asked to look for references from Google. So, the thought process seems to have been completed, only the internet is enough to answer," explained Syarif Bando.

It's no wonder then that Google conducted a survey, the results of which found that the average Indonesian child is able to play the internet for 7 hours a day.

"This is certainly not progress, but setbacks," he said.

On the same occasion the Financial Services Authority (OJK) regional office 3 in the Central Java region and DI Yogyakarta helped establish the Integrated Financial Information Center in Salatiga City as literacy support and part of the financial inclusion ecosystem.

This program was initiated by the Regional Financial Acceleration Team, the Library and Archives Service, and the Literacy Mother of the City of Salatiga.

"There are three groups being targeted, namely women's groups, students, and MSME players," said Head of OJK Regional 3 Sumarjono.

The Integrated Financial Information Center that was formed, added Sumarjono, contributed to increasing understanding of financial products and services which included financial planning, investment alert, to online loans (pinjol).

Sumarjono promised to include derivative programs such as Financial Literacy Day, Financial Literacy Proficient Women and Financial Literacy Motivator Youth, as well as the Financial Education Program for MSME Actors.

He reasoned that in Central Java there is an imbalance (gap) between the level of financial literacy and financial inclusion. If this is not resolved, problems will arise, such as the rise of loans and illegal investments.

"We do this solely to drive the regional economy and support the Community Literacy Improvement Index," he added.

The involvement of literacy mothers in the program carried out by the OJK was also mentioned as a form of breakthrough and accelerated information dissemination because it could optimize the role of PKK mothers.

And the City of Salatiga became the first city designated for the establishment of an Integrated Financial Information Center in Central Java.

The Book Exhibition and Literacy Expo for the City of Salatiga were held in commemoration of the 1,273th Anniversary of the City of Salatiga.

This exhibition was enlivened by various MSME products, various workshops, and musical entertainment. In addition, a number of products from persons with disabilities were also exhibited//VOI