Why do we need to be concerned about reproductive health and sexuality issues among adolescents?
This may be the most basic question people asked when seeing Rutgers’ works to overcome hurdles and challenges faced to advocate CSE in all levels.
The answer is to provide Indonesia with qualified demography bonus reserve.
Imagine when current youth aged 10-24 years are provided with CSE, referring to Siswanto’s prediction, by the coming decade they will be in their most productive age and might become parents themselves. With CSE provision, these prospective parents will bring in more generation and transfer their knowledge to their children.
That’s why Rutgers Indonesia worked hard to develop SETARA which took almost sixteen years to complete. The first edition was issued in 2012, later in 2017 the module was revised for a year, some contents were adjusted with developments and “culture” in Indonesia.
In the last two years SETARA and its evaluation measure, GEAS, have elevated the story of changes to the national level. Together with UNFPA, MOE, MOH and Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA), they formulated National CSE modules based on SETARA materials.
“In 2021 the module was completed, we also produced a sylabus, learning materials and we briefed stakeholders and educators to have a unified perception regarding CSE. This year we’re conducting coordination with local governments,” explained Irmawati, from Program Planning Evaluation and Analysis Division of Directorate of Primary Education Teachers at MOEC.
The government also targeted to train 5,000 teachers throughout the country with the national CSE modules in stages by 2025. The MOH will provide facilitators – in this case, doctors from community health centers – to train core teachers in 34 provinces.
The core teachers are selected from those who teach the following four subjects: Biology, Physical Education, Counseling Coach and Extracuricular Coach. After the core teachers were trained, they will transfer their knowledge to their peers by means of learning forums, it will be disseminated further to partner teachers, and lastly, to impact teachers.
“So SETARA and GEAS results have provided impacts to influence policy makers. We just need to be patient and keep evaluating,” Siswanto added.
“Jadi SETARA dan hasil GEAS sudah mempengaruhi penentu kebijakan. Kita tinggal bersabar dan evaluasi saja,” tambah Siswanto.
Similar to drug prevention program, CSE should not be undermined due to taboos. If we want teenagers to avoid risky behavior, we should provide them with maximum information. It should be provided from a credible source, nationally recognized and internationally standardized.
SETARA started the story of changes with real actions to empower youth. We continue working to enhance sexuality awareness among more teenagers.
Page by page, the stories of change were written and retold by teachers, parents, and even stake holders in this edition. Other stories will follow and will be shared as a track record of CSE effectiveness in Indonesia, initiated by Rutgers, together with SETARA.