Bandung, fmipa.itb.ac.id – As an effort to improve the quality of education in Aceh, the regional government of the Province of Aceh collaborated with ITB to conduct a training workshop for junior high school and high school teachers throughout Aceh. The opening ceremony of the workshop took place on 22 May 2014 at 13.15 local time in the campus West Hall, entitled “OSN INSTRUCTOR CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS THROUGHOUT ACEH”. The ceremony was opened by the tune of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya, and readings of holy verses from the Qur’an, followed by a report given by the head of the committee, Abdul Waris, M. Eng., Ph.D., greetings from the Head of the Secondary Education Division, Neilum Outhar, on behalf of the Head of the Aceh Department of Education, and a formal opening speech by the Secretary of the Community Outreach Division of LPPM ITB, Prof. Budi Sulistianto, on behalf of the Rector of ITB. The ceremony was concluded by the exchange of memento from both parties and joint prayer and photo sessions.

In addition to involving the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), the training also involved 4 other faculties, which are: Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology (FITB), School of Life Sciences and Technology (SITH), School of Business and Management (SBM), along with the School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (STEI). The fields of mathematics, chemistry, p hysics and astronomy would be andled by FMIPA, biology by SITH, computing by STEI, geography and earth sciences by FITB and social sciences by SBM.

The training workshop is going to be conducted over a period of four and a half months, divided into 3 waves and involving 390 participants. For the capacity building training for High School OSN teachers to be conducted in May-June, the first wave consists of 150 teachers for the fields of study:

Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy and Mathematics. Wave II consists of 120 teachers for the following fields of study: Geography, Economics, Earth Sciences and Computer Sciences. The capacity building training for Junior High School OSN teachers will be conducted in August-September for 120 teachers in the fields of study: Biology, Physics, Mathematics, and SocialSciences.

It is hoped that this training would be able to develop the competence of teachers serving as OSN instructors in nurturing the character and increasing the quantity and quality of graduates. Hopefully this is a step to improve the quality of education in Aceh and Indonesia for the better.