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In Forbes, Bambang Sumaryanto of P&G Indonesia discussed why they have launched the project, Balita Cerdas, which means smart toddler:  

"In Indonesia, elementary and junior high school are mandatory for all Indonesian children. However, studies show that almost 40% of the children who dropped out of elementary school did so because they were unable to follow the education process. These children also did not have access to early childhood development programs.  Because the government has limited funds, its focus has always been primarily on elementary and high school programs. Data from the Ministry of Education shows that around 26 million children under 6 years do not have access to any form of early childhood education, even though those programs are important because they help to reduce the drop-out rate among elementary kids.

"P&G Indonesia started Balita Cerdas in 2008 with the objective to help provide children under 6 with access to early childhood education. In partnership with UNICEF and Rumah Zakat, we worked closely with the government and the community to develop ECD programs. Our first initiative was building an ECD School in the rural area of Sukabumi in West Java. To ensure its sustainability, we trained volunteers from the community to become teachers.

"The uniqueness of the program is its ability to sustain itself through community involvement. We created the program in such a way that after two years, women in the communities are empowered to independently manage their ECD school without our financial support. This model allows us to continuously expand the ECD schools to other areas and help more children.  Our initial goal was to help a minimum of 1,000 children a year, which we succeeded in doing and have expanded the program to 10,000 children per year now."

Register today and connect with over 800 other early childhood professionals from over 80 nations. Spend four days with other delegates discussing key early childhood issues including:

• Caring for Institutionalized Children
• Children with Special Needs
• Connecting Children with Nature
• Creating Environments for Children
• Curriculum Modes
• Family Engagement
• HIV/AIDS and Young Children
• Immigration and Young Children
• Informal Settings
• Leadership in Early Childhood
• Men in Early Childhood
• Multi-Cultural Education
• Peace Education
• Play
• Preserving Indigenous Culture
• Teacher Education
• Workforce Development

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