More than one thousand teachers from all around Indonesia gathered at Balai Kartini Jakarta for the Indonesian Teachers Conference (KGI) on November 27-28, 2007. The kindergarten through senior high school teachers came together for the conference themed “Better Community through Better Education”. This event was opened on November 27, 2007 by Giri Suryatmana, Secretary to the Director General for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel that read the official speech of the Minister of National Education at Balai Kartini, Jakarta.

KGI 2007 is the second national teachers’ conference held by Sampoerna Foundation Teacher Institute (SFTI), Education Provision, and supported fully by The PMPTK Directorate General of the Department of National Education. KGI, also supported by various private sector companies and regional administrations, invited 1000 teachers from all over Indonesia.

This conference, held in connection with National Teachers Day featured 45 international and local speakers experts in the field of education, such as Datuk Kamal Quadra, former State Director of Education of Sabah, and currently Board Chairman of Kolej Yayasan Sabah (KYS), from Malaysia; Prof. Emer. Dr. Jurgen Zimmer - President and Founder of the School for Life from Germany; Hoa Phuong Tran, Ph. D - Regional Learning and Education Advisor for Plan International, Asia Region, from Vietnam; and Cher Ping Lim (PhD) – Asia-Pacific Director for the Centre of Excellence for Teaching Education and Innovations from Australia. “The use of both international speakers enabled participants to develop their global view of education and to compare and contrast developments across the world with those of Indonesia” said Kenneth Cock, Director of SFTI and chairman of the KGI organizing committee, at the opening on KGI 2007.

KGI 2007 also invited principals, teachers, and university lecturers from Indonesia as speakers. They presented papers screened by a team made up of education sector observer Mochtar Buchori, senior journalist Ati Nurbaiti, and SFTI education practitioner Riris Lumban Tobing. When explaining the selection mechanism, Riris said that of the 146 papers submitted, 10 papers that fulfilled the conference theme and could inspire and be used as patterns for action by teachers all over Indonesia.

Different from last year’s KGI, which discussed teaching techniques and pedagogic method alternatives in teaching, KGI 2007 focused more on discussing the correlation between education and communities, such as professional teachers’ skill development based on community, alternative education and community development through education. “The conference was an outstanding success”, reported Pak Ken, “It provided an opportunity for the teachers of Indonesia to network and to celebrate their good work as they strive to give their best to the young people of this country.”

KGI 2007 is supported by the companies that concern to the improvement of Indonesian education such as Exxon Mobil Indonesia (EMOI), Mobil Cepu Ltd (MCL), Total E & P Indonesie, Blue Bird Group, PT. Aneka Infokom Tekindo, PT. Datascrip, LPMAK, Adaro Envirocoal, and Siloam Hospitals.

Steering committee would like to thank and congratulate for all participants who joined KGI 2007. There are CD of KGI 2007 speakers’ presentations available for everyone who hasn’t got the chance to attend KGI 2007. To order the CD you can send email to Alamat e-mail ini telah diblok oleh spam bots, Anda membutuhkan Javascript untuk melihatnya  or Alamat e-mail ini telah diblok oleh spam bots, Anda membutuhkan Javascript untuk melihatnya  completed with data below
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We’ll see you on KGI 2008.