Media Release
30 January 2026
The Australia–Indonesia partnership program, Innovation for Indonesian School Children (INOVASI) with the Probolinggo Regency Government, are improving access to and quality of education in remote areas across Indonesia using a ‘multigrade learning’ approach.
This multigrade model was piloted in 2018, offering a practical solution for schools with small numbers of students, limited facilities, or teacher shortages. It enables one teacher to facilitate learning for students from multiple grade levels in a single classroom, ensuring continued access to learning.
After this approach was implemented, literacy scores rose from 63.8 to 73.2, and numeracy scores from 54 to 72.2. The multigrade model was then implemented more broadly, reaching 168 primary schools in Probolinggo regency, including SDN Sariwani 2.
Australian Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia, Gita Kamath and the Secretary-General of Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), Suharti and the Deputy for Human, Community, and Cultural Development of the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), Pungkas Bahjuri Ali, visited SDN Sariwani 2 to see how this approach has been implemented.
“Indonesia and Australia are close partners, and we share a commitment to improving children’s literacy and numeracy skills. I’m delighted to visit SDN Sariwani 2 to see how our cooperation is delivering great results for Indonesian school children,” said Australian Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia, Gita Kamath.
The Secretary-General of Kemendikdasmen, Suharti noted that the learning approach aligns with Kemendikdasmen’s priorities. “I really appreciate this collaboration which has found creative ways to ensure children in remote areas continue to receive good quality education, this is a concrete step towards ensuring inclusive and quality education for all children across Indonesia. Kemendikdasmen has been working with the INOVASI program to expand this approach to other regions in Indonesia through teacher training initiatives,” she said.
The Bappenas Deputy for Human and Cultural Development, Pungkas Bahjuri Ali highlighted that multigrade teaching supports national policy objectives, including to reduce the number of out-of-school children. " This approach (multigrade teaching) is a good example, with great evidence, which will be a strategic approach that will accelerate access for education while ensuring the quality of teaching and learning. Next, this will be a challenge for us, Bappenas and Kemdikdasmen, to expand the implementation to other regions in Indonesia” he said.
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