On 15 August at the State Islamic Institute (IAIN), Surabaya, the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia H.E. Bill Farmer officially launched three major activities under the Learning Assistance Program for Islamic Schools (LAPIS) facility. One of the activities, ELTIS – English Language Training for Islamic Schools – is managed by the IALF and focuses on building the capacity of Islamic tertiary institutions to deliver in-service training for English teachers in Islamic junior secondary schools (Madrasah Tsanawiyah). The second activity is the Teacher Education in Madrasah Tsanawiyah (PGMI) activity which aims to develop pre-service training modules for primary school teachers in the Islamic sector. Both PGMI and ELTIS will focus initially on the provinces of East Java and West Nusa Tenggara. The third activity is ELOIS – Equality of Learning Outcomes in Islamic Schools – which is concerned with gender awareness, equity and access as cross-cutting issues. LAPIS is supported by the Australian government through AusAID.

In his speech H. E. Bill Farmer stressed the importance of education within the Australian aid program in Indonesia. Other speakers at the launch were Bapak Arief Furgon from the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) and Bapak Ridlwan Nasir, Rector IAIN Surabaya. The ceremony was also attended by Priya Powell, First Secretary, AusAID Indonesia, Robert Kingham, Director, LAPIS and Catherine Yates, General Manager, LAPIS.

On 14 August ELTIS held its first Steering Committee meeting. The Committee consists of representatives from MORA, Ministry of National Education, AusAID and LAPIS as well as representatives from Islamic education institutions in Surabaya, Mataram and Watampone in Sulawesi. The focus of this meeting was to report on the setting up of ELTIS and the progress on initial activities, as well as to discuss the opportunities and risks in implementing the planned activities over the next two and half years. The Committee was also briefed
on the monitoring and evaluation processes and procedures by Jeff Bost, the ELTIS Monitoring and Evaluation Adviser. The mechanisms he outlined will be used throughout the activity to measure impact and gauge effectiveness.

Indonesia Australia Language Foundation

IALF Language Centres in Indonesia: