Jakarta – Indonesia’s commitment to building sustainable schools is further strengthened by potential collaboration with Jeju Province, South Korea. In a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 7th APEC Education Ministers Meeting forum, the two parties discussed strategic cooperation in renewable energy and waste management, especially in education and the environment.
Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Abdul Mu’ti, in an official statement, after the meeting in Jeju, Tuesday, 13 May, stated that this cooperation targets the use of solar power and environmentally friendly energy to support educational units in remote areas that electricity has not reached.
“Many schools in Indonesia, especially in remote areas, do not have adequate access to electricity. With the support of renewable energy from Jeju, this will greatly help the teaching and learning process,” said Abdul Mu’ti.
Jeju Province is widely recognised for its success in building a modern and efficient waste management system and using renewable energy on a large scale. This experience attracts Indonesian cooperation, especially in the context of environmentally friendly schools.
“The waste management model from Jeju is very feasible to replicate, especially in areas that have run green school pilot projects, such as in Bontang, East Kalimantan,” Mu’ti continued.
He added that this cooperation also has the potential to expand students’ understanding of sustainability practices and form an environmentally friendly culture from an early age through the curriculum.
Responding to the cooperation offer, Jeju Province Governor Oh Young-hun expressed his enthusiasm for supporting Indonesia in developing clean energy infrastructure in the education sector.
“We are very interested to see whether the renewable energy technology that we have developed can be adopted in other countries, including Indonesia,” said Oh.
Oh mentioned that Jeju is also open to technology transfer, including technical training and support for solar and biomass energy infrastructure devices that have proven successful in the province.
Collaboration opportunities in vocational education
This collaboration strengthens environmentally friendly schools and improves the quality of vocational education in Indonesia. Toni Toharudin, Head of the Education Standards, Curriculum, and Assessment Agency, said that technologies and best practices from Jeju can be adopted in vocational training programmes.
“Jeju has good experience in implementing community-based renewable energy. We see an opportunity for this cooperation to become a pilot project for vocational education relevant to future needs,” Toni said.
The programme will be integrated within an eco-school framework combining curriculum, school culture, and sustainability-based governance.
This collaboration between Indonesia and Jeju emphasises the importance of international partnerships in achieving sustainable development targets (SDGs), especially in the education and environment sectors. The Indonesian government is optimistic that this collaboration will become an inspiring model for developing green education infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region. (Hartatik)
Banner photo: https://muhammadiyah.or.id
