Working with Australian teachers in Islamic schools

The IALF has been working with Australian Volunteers International (AVI) on their program of assistance to Islamic schools in East Java. In mid 2004 five Australian teachers were placed in Madrasah (schools in the Islamic system) to assist teachers with the implementation of the new competency based curriculum for the teaching of English. The AVI teachers are based in schools in Malang and Jombang and have a brief to assist schools in their district as well as the school in which they are based.

IALF Surabaya held an orientation workshop for these teachers in July where teachers were introduced to the resources available from the IALF for English language teaching, especially those produced through the AusAID-funded Kang Guru Radio English project. This meeting was followed by a visit to all the teachers in the schools by John Olle from AVI and Caroline Bentley from IALF Bali. John, Caroline and the AVI teacher in each school held discussions with school principals and representatives about the areas of priority for the Australian teachers and formulated work plans for the first six months. In December this year, Chloe Olliver, the AVI Program Manager, and Caroline will visit each of the teachers in their schools to discuss priorities for 2005 and ways in which both AVI and IALF can assist in the development of teaching and learning English in the Islamic school system in East Java.

Working with Muhammadyah University, Malang

IALF Surabaya has recently built on its cooperative activities with Universitas Muhammadyah, Malang (UMM). In September this year Alex Gough, Manager IALF Surabaya, conducted an IELTS orientation and simulation for lecturers at UMM.

Also in September the IALF opened four English language courses at the newly established UMM Language Centre (Kursus Bahasa Asing). The IALF is one of the foundation members of the Centre. In addition to the English language training provided by the IALF, other language courses, such as French, Arabic and Mandarin are also being offered.

While most of the students in the IALF courses at UMM are lecturers at the university, the courses are open to members of the public and it is hoped that interest in the program expands in 2005 and that a range of courses can be offered to suit the levels and needs of more students in Malang.

Indonesia Australia Language Foundation

IALF Language Centres in Indonesia: