Oleh : Shefira R. Manany (230904006)
Mhs. Program Studi : Ilmu Komunikasi
Dosen Pengampu : Drs. Syarifuddin Pohan, S. H, M. Si, Ph. D
Email : shefirariani@gmail.com
Paradigma : Positivism
The actions of pulling apart things put the gears in my head to work, allowing me to notice domains around me. The Local Project and Volunteering were two new things for me, where I tend to put everything I know, where I start to learn and understand new things and where I set my mindset about "what I could give" instead of "what I could get". This is a real condition where everyone can learn from any platforms at anytime, if ones have a desire to. I'm an education-enthusiast girl having a great number of desire to spread my mindset on the importance of education to foster our quality of life in the future. Education is the most beautiful gift in the world as a basis for improving a more decent standard of living. Everything in this world is closely related to education, and so is literacy. Education is a learning process for human resources as well as a forum for developing their potential. Generally, literacy leads to education, the results of which refer to empowerment through the acquisition of necessary skills and knowledge that can be used in effective individual functioning both in the context of society or community. Let's take an example of someone who knows how to read and write well. Say, all of his education was at an English medium school. Thus, we can say that he has a high interest in literacy. But can we say that he is highly educated? We can say he is educated only if the knowledge and information he acquires are reflected in his actions. That is a fundamental difference regarding literacy and education. However, it cannot be denied that education and literacy are one unit, a combination to produce progress. Why not, in the world of education, writing is absolutely an important qualification. Both textbooks and reading books are the main means of learning for students in the world of education.
Nowadays, Literacy plays such an important role to refer to the capacity of a person to engage in all those activities in required for effective function of group and community and also for enabling ones to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for self and the community's development. For general knowledge, literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world. Literacy is also divided into 6 types, which are critical literacy, digital literacy, media literacy, cultural literacy, financial literacy, scientific literacy and informational literacy.
Nisa Felicia, Executive Director of the Center for Education and Policy Studies (PSPK), discussed the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is an international test taken by 15 year old students from various countries, including Indonesia. These tests assess students' abilities in reading, mathematics, and science, and the results are often used to compare the quality of education between countries. Nisa revealed that based on the PISA test results, there are still around 70 percent of Indonesian students who have a literacy level under the minimum of standards set.
If we minimize to our region, North Sumatra, The Head of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) of Regional 5, Bambang Mukti Riyadi said that based on the 2022 National Survey of Financial Literacy and Inclusion (SNLIK), there is an increase in the level of financial literacy and inclusion in society. The literacy rate in 2022 was 51.69%, higher than in 2019 which was 37.96% and 2016 which was 31.30%. This would have potential to increase in 2023 if every scopes impacts to every sides of environment. That's why I would really like to get in touch directly to my scope to give positive impacts especially for literacy in North Sumatra.
I tried to give impact to my society by joining this project to support one of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is SDGs 4.0 (Quality of Education). Our group focused on SDGs 4.6 which is numeral literacy, that we were giving so many insights and games that linked to mathematics for 4th grader students. This was initiated by one of external organizations named AIESEC in USU. This is one of my actions to support literacy in Indonesia, especially North Sumatra and this obviously need persuasive communication that really link to my major which is Communication Science. Literacy and communication go hand in hand. Students should learn to read. Students who are falling behind their peers in reading may find themselves struggling to understand instructions in different disciplines. Even students who excel in other subjects, like math, may not reach their full potential if they aren't proficient in reading and writing. That's something that stay in my mind on education until my passion for education goes beyond my personal drive to do well in a place where I study or to encompass the world around me. Thanks to god that we got that "The Best Execution Day" since every single child really enjoy our group project.
In conclusion, we need to know that we can impact everyone by any platforms if we have that desire to share our awareness of things that happen and about to happen.
