JAYAPURA, PAPUA – The Papua Provincial Government began to strengthen special education services as part of the effort to ensure that children with special needs receive access to education that suits their needs.
This step was taken by the Papua Provincial Education Office through the evaluation of various educational service issues that are the authority of the provincial government, including the achievement of the Minimum Service Standard (SPM) of education which still needs to be improved.
The Head of the Papua Provincial Education Office, Marthen Medlama, in Jayapura, Monday, said that the improvement of special education services is one of the local government’s concerns because the current achievement of SPM is not fully able to answer the needs of children with special needs.
“The low achievement of SPM causes a number of educational services for children with special needs that cannot be provided optimally,” said Marthen.
According to him, the improvement will be done by evaluating a number of indicators that affect the quality of educational services, so that the needs of students with special needs can be handled more purposefully.
One of the aspects that is of concern is the availability of educators. The Papua Provincial Education Office needs to prepare the needs of teachers because a number of educators who have been teaching in special schools will enter retirement.
“So that the condition is also related to the SPM assessment indicator carried out by the central government. The assessment for provincial authority focuses more on special education, while SMA and SMK have become the authority of the district/city,” he said.
Marthen explained, the availability of educators is an important part of the continuity of special education services. The lack of teachers has the potential to affect the school’s ability to provide guidance and learning that is in accordance with the characteristics of the students.
Therefore, the provincial government will look at the needs of educators more thoroughly, including anticipating teacher vacancies that occur due to entering retirement.
The reforment of special education services is also directed to ensure that the SPM indicator can be fulfilled gradually. The evaluation is expected to provide an overview of the needs that still need to be improved, both from the side of educators and other support services.
The Papua Provincial Government places special education as one of the important parts in improving the quality of human resources. Through the improvement of services and the fulfillment of school needs, children with special needs are expected to obtain more appropriate and sustainable learning opportunities.
