Mentari Group through the Pelajar Berkreasi programme held a Ruang Inspirasi seminar, which a forum for parents and educators to exchange ideas, experience, and knowledge. Ruang Inspirasi was held online and was attended by more than 150 participants from many cities across Indonesia.
Pelajar Berkreasi itself is a competition series that is held annually by Mentari Group. In this third year, Pelajar Berkreasi 2023 has successfully held Lomba Lagu Anak Indonesia Hebat (LAIH) with its Awards Ceremony as the peak event that was held on Saturday, 17 June 2023, and the Mentari English Competition that ended in April 2023. For the first time, Pelajar Berkreasi initiated a creative and educational activity in the form of a discussion for parents and educators with three professional speakers who have been involved in the world of children’s education and development, namely Panji Aziz Pratama as the Founder of Istana Belajar Anak Banten (Isbanban) Foundation, Rusiati Yo as a Child Observer and Education Practitioner, and Natalina Rimba as a Director of the Pelajar Berkreasi Programme.
Through the Ruang Inspirasi seminar, Mentari Group hopes to be able to discuss and educate parents and educators about the positive impacts that children will receive if they become regularly involved in various activities that are able to develop their potential according to their interests, especially if the culture participating in many activities has been instilled from an early age.
The main focus of the discussion with the three speakers in the Ruang Inspiration seminar was centred on ways and activities that parents and educators need to keep in mind when choosing activities that support children’s interest. One of the speakers, Rusiati Yo, mentioned that parents and educators can include children in various simple activities at home or at school to achieve these goals while building connections with their children as well.
“We can actually do an observation through our children’s daily activities. So, through interactions in various daily activities, we will later be able to find things that are becoming their concerns, interests, and also the things that they have on their minds,” she concluded.
Director of the Pelajar Berkreasi Programme, Natalina Rimba, also stated that the purpose of the series of activities in the programme is a step in supporting the development of children’s interest in Indonesia with the potential that they have, specifically in the area of literacy, numeracy, and character building.
“3 years ago, in 2019, we were called upon to create the Pelajar Berkreasi Programme, which at the time was the pandemic era and we wanted to provide activities that were creative, innovative, and could be done online.” she said.
Natalina also conveyed the main purpose of establishing the Pelajar Berkreasi programme, which is to provide a platform for Indonesian students to fill their leisure time with fun and useful activities, as well as foster self-motivation to grow their interest, develop their talents, and sharpen their preferences. The focus of the programme is centred on the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) or higher reasoning abilities, as well as the 4C skills, namely Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, & Communication skills.
In line with Rusiati and Natalina, Panji also explained the importance of children’s potential through activities outside of school. Panji himself revealed that there are differences in the character of children who are often involved in creative activities compare to those who are not.
“The character of children who are often involved in creative activities, from my experience in the field, especially with Isbanban children, we see that these children have a good ability of resilience. If they failed to do something, they will rise to get up. Their resilience is really amazing,” said Panji.
Panji believes that children who are often included in many activities will automatically develop their creative spirit, courage, and they can develop self-confidence in the end. Therefore, parents and educators are also required to be active in assisting children to have the character that Panji has discussed. This assertion was also expressed by Rusiati Yo, that parents need to collaborate with children and build an atmosphere of activities that motivate children to learn and help each other. Rusiati also emphasised that parents are not advised to force their children to do activities that they do not have interest in, but to look for activities that still give children opportunity to develop their creativity. Thus, Rusiati believes that parents need to do self-reflection in helping their children to get more fun and meaningful learning opportunities.
Each session in the Ruang Insprasi seminar was concluded with a question-and-answer session as well as a door prize. The prize was in the form of an e-Wallet amount and Mentari Mathematics Olympiad (MEMO) 2023 registration tickets.
MEMO 2023 is a national Olympiad as a part of the Pelajar Berkreasi Programme. It is an online Olympiad for primary students, which aims to be a place for them to express their love for mathematics. MEMO questions are based on the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), which can improve problem solving skills and logical thinking in everyday live. In addition, all MEMO questions are written in English, which aims to hone students’ English literacy skills at the same time.
MEMO 2023 registration is now open until 27 August 2023. However, participants who register before 8 July 2023 will get a special Early Bird price of IDR175,000.00. The regular price of MEMO is IDR250,000.00. Students can register for MEMO 2023 via hadiryuk.id/MEMO2023.
