VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Head of Research and Development Agency (Balitbang) of the Education and Culture Ministry (Kemendikbud) Totok Suprayitno said that the National Examination (UN) was used to improve the learning process.

"In addition to being used to measure graduates` competency level, the National Exam is also used to improve the learning process in the classroom," Suprayitno noted in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He stated that the most effective and efficient way to improve student competence is to provide feedback to students.

"To improve the learning process, there needs to be feedback. Feedback has the greatest influence, with the lowest costs, to improve student achievement, "he stated.

Head of Research and Development Agency added that to provide assessment feedback, the Education Assessment Center, Balitbang, Ministry of Education and Culture, compiles a National Examination Results Report each year that contains all UN results data from the provincial level to the education unit level.

In 2018, the UN results report was completed with provincial / regency / city level national report cards and UN results executive summary. The National Examination Report and question release are Puspendik`s efforts to assist the education office in following up on the UN results. (ant)

 President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the One-map Policy program can eliminate the requirement for a business license when effective.

"In future, with the presence of a digital map, there is no need to issue a location permit. The location permit is not needed as everything would become clear," the president stated, when launching a One-Map Policy Geoportal and 2018 National Infrastructure Development Progress Book at Bidakara Hotel in Jakarta, on Tuesday.

According to Jokowi, licensing procedures, in fact, complicate the efforts to encourage the development of the business world.

"The One-Map Policy will have an impact on many sectors, and we already have the commitment that this must be carried out," he noted.

Jokowi, who was also the former governor of Jakarta, revealed that his visits to various regions to monitor infrastructure development had led him to become aware of the fact that there were many overlapping land use problems in Indonesia.

"The more the visits (I) made, the more I knew of cases that are overlapping everywhere," Jokowi revealed.

The president added that he was happy because one map could currently integrated 83 of 85 thematic maps in Indonesia. "Therefore, I really appreciate it. We have been preparing this for a long time," he explained. In addition to overcoming overlapping land use, the policy will also make development planning more accurate, because it is not only based on data but also on detailed maps.

"With this map, everything will be clear as to where to build irrigation, the dam, and to where the irrigation network would pass," he noted.

Jokowi stated that work related to the one-map policy had just begun. He asked ministries and state institutions to pay attention to and implement a number of things, namely the first is to immediately add the thematic maps that are needed to clarify the problem of overlapping land use. The second is to immediately utilize the overlapping indicative map to resolve overlapping land use. The third is to immediately utilize the one-map policy in the spatial-based development planning.

"Fourthly, each ministry and state institution needs to work together and collaborate to resolve the issue of overlapping issues and eliminate sectoral egos," he added.

The president also asked the regional government heads to accelerate the establishment of village and urban village boundaries as there are still many that are not yet finished.

" I also instructed the Geospatial Information Agency to formulate an effective data updating mechanism and prepare a base map on a larger scale," Jokowi pointed out. (ant) 

The year 2019 is expected to be a new era for the Indonesian province of West Papua in terms of railway project, after years of experiencing difficult transportation problems. The commencement of railway projects in West Papua in 2019 will increase the length of the railway line and will be a new era in railway transportation history since the first railway lines in Indonesia were constructed during the Dutch colonial rule.

History recorded that on June 7, 1864, governor general Baron Sloet van den Beele initiated the first railway line in Indonesia on Kemijen village in Semarang, Central Java. It began operations on Aug 10, 1867, in Central Java, connecting the first built Semarang station to Tanggung for 25 kilometers. By May 21, 1873, the line was connected to Solo, in Central Java, and was later extended to Yogyakarta. By the 1920s, the system in Java had reached its greatest extent, with most towns and cities connected by rail, with branches and tramways connecting sugar plantations to factories.

And now the railway project will be expanded to areas outside Java and reach remote areas in West Papua Province. The Central government has asked the regional administration of West Papua to accelerate preparation for the project to build railway track in the province.

The instruction from Jakarta will be on land clearing where the main tracks would be built and would pass through the city of Sorong, Sorong District, South Sorong, Maybrat, Teluk Bintuni, South Manokwari, and Manokwari. The main track would extend between the city of Sorong and the city of Manokwari.

West Papua Transportation Office Chief Agustinus Kadakolo remarked in Manokwari on Monday that the groundbreaking of the railway project in the province will be carried out in 2019. According to Kadakolo, the first phase of the construction of the railway line will be carried out around 100 kilometers from Sorong City. (ant)

Chairman of Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association (APINDO) Hariyadi B. Sukamdani said that strengthening connectivity between regions from the western to eastern parts of Indonesia became a challenge for business people in the era of disruption.

"Strengthening connectivity is necessary to stimulate the growth of economy in the region," Hariyadi B. Sukamdani said during a seminar on The Future Digital Transformation, Government & Private Partnership here on Monday.

Java, he noted, still dominates the growth of national economy. He stated that connectivity that is in line with the growth of new economic movements in the regions will increase productivity and national competitiveness. Thus, sustainable and equitable economic growth can be felt by all levels of society.

The challenge of strengthening connectivity to create equitable and sustainable economic development and the challenges of the digital era in the business world are two important points in the era of disruption, he said.

Therefore, a synergy between the private sector and the government is needed to answer a number of challenges.

The synergy is expected to be a benchmark which can maintain national economic growth while creating jobs.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of APINDO for Transportation Affairs Carmelita Hartoto expected that the participants of the seminar could give inputs or proposals in relation to strengthening national connectivity and addressing the challenges of trade competition in the era of digital transformation.

The strengthening of national connectivity from Sabang to Marauke becomes one of Indonesia`s major challenges, she said.

"Indonesia is an archipelagic country. Strengthening Indonesia`s connectivity requires an integrated network of all modes of transportation, both from land, sea, air and rail," she said.

The transportation system also needs to be connected and integrated with industrial estates, as a node of economic movement. In the era of digital transformation, business people are required to follow market patterns that need transportation services which are efficient, fast, safe and comfortable. (ant)