The Program of KREASI has launched Jejak KREASI, a talk series that explores key issues in education. The first episode, titled “From Village to City: Lighting the Flame of Literacy,” was held virtually on Monday, 15 September 2025.
According to the 2024 PISA results, Indonesia ranked 70th out of 80 countries. One of the major contributing factors to this low performance is the limited access to reading materials—especially in 3T regions (disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost areas).
Several grassroots literacy initiatives have emerged, such as mobile libraries in Morotai, community reading parks in Lampung, and village-based literacy programs in Padang, Ketapang, Kalimantan Barat. However, challenges remain. A nationwide reading culture is still uneven, children’s book availability is limited, and adult involvement in guiding children’s reading is still lacking.
Jejak KREASI brought together stakeholders to share their insights and experiences.
Village Head of Padang in Ketapang, Marwansyah, shared how his village transformed into a Kampung Literasi (Literacy Village) with support from KREASI. Five community reading spots were established, and schools were required to include reading activities as part of extracurricular programs.
“We’ve created five community reading points and made reading an extracurricular activity in schools. But we hope the government can support this further so the movement becomes sustainable—and that books are available not just for children, but also for parents, on topics like agriculture, small businesses, and fisheries,” he said.
Chair of the Literacy Village Task Force in Padang, Deki Triadi, explained that the task force was formed as a follow-up to KREASI’s designation of Padang as a model village. The movement now includes reading corners in five hamlets, volunteer training for reading space managers, and a village policy mandating reading through an official circular.
“We can’t just rely on external aid. We need to be independent and sustainable. Our goal is to expand Literacy Villages across all 20 sub-districts and 253 villages—toward becoming a Literacy Regency,” he stated.
In addition to village leadership, contributions from education partners are also vital. Program Manager of ProVisi Room to Read, Sabrina E. Sarmili, emphasized that simply providing books is not enough without adult guidance. Room to Read, which has supported literacy in Indonesia for 11 years, distributes high-quality, contextual, and child-friendly books to schools, including those in 3T areas.
“For the past 11 years, we’ve supported literacy by providing quality and contextual books for children. But book access alone is not enough—the role of teachers and adults is critical to ensure books are truly used,” she said.
From the central government’s perspective, Head of the Book Center at Kemendikdasmen, Supriyatno, outlined several strategic initiatives to strengthen the national literacy ecosystem. One is the SIBI platform, which offers thousands of digital books in PDF, audio, and interactive formats, organized by reading levels. Another is the promotion of local authors to produce culturally relevant folk stories from various regions.
“Literacy can only thrive if the government, communities, and local activists work hand in hand. Books must also be rooted in local context to truly connect with children,” he said.
The event affirmed that literacy cannot be built by a single actor. It requires close collaboration between the government, communities, local partners, and civil society. KREASI plays a critical role as a catalyst—raising public awareness, supporting village-level literacy policies, and encouraging the active involvement of schools and parents.