Of the villages within Seranau Sub-District, Batuah Village still possesses an alarming rate of illiteracy.

To answer the problem, KMP’s Community Development Team have organized a Calistung Program that aims to raise village literacy. It was through communication with Rahman, principal of Batuah 2 Elementary School, that ensured Katingan Mentaya Project’s team of Community Development to implement a program that would alleviate illiteracy in Batuah Village. The program, named Calistung (Indonesian acronym for read, write, and count), was held for the first time on March 5th 2021 to 20 villagers.

Batuah Village is located in the sub-district of Seranau, Central Kalimantan. The village is mainly divided into 2 areas, named Kemapit and Tamiyangan which are located downstream and upstream respectively. Of the villages within the sub-district, Batuah Village still possesses an alarming rate of illiteracy, with a significant number of villagers not having to graduate elementary school.

Realizing the problem at hand, Akhmad Safari, staff of Katingan Mentaya Project’s Forest Village Community Development started his outreach towards local village government to initiate a survey that would measure the villagers’ enthusiasm over a proposed program, named Calistung. The program is aimed to educate participants of the program basic reading, writing, and counting skills. The result of the initial survey, though, found that a majority of the villagers still viewed education as less valuable than work, stating that ‘work makes money whereas studying requires a lot of brain power’.

It would then be more beneficial if the program has a degree of legality in it, where villagers not only study but also acquire certification that could help them in the future. With help from Mentaya Estetika Learning Centre (Pusat Kegiatan Belajar Masyarakat/PKBM), Katingan Mentaya Project is able to do so and facilitate learners with an A Certificate (equivalent to Elementary School graduates) by the end of the program and ensuring qualified tutors.

On March 5th 2021, the Calistung Program was officially held for a total of 20 students, of which 3 were men and 17 were women.

The distribution of quality education for all people is part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched by the United Nations. Listed in the fourth point, this goal seeks to ensure that everyone can receive 9 years of compulsory education in 2030. Katingan Mentaya Project continues to work to achieve this goal, one of which is through empowering local communities within and around the project area.