SOREANG JOURNAL – In the momentum of the commemoration of National Education Day, National Book Day 2026, and National Awakening Day, there is a story about the spirit of literacy that continues to grow in the border region between Indonesia and Malaysia.
In Malinau Regency, North Kalimantan, limited access and geographical challenges do not prevent the community from building a vibrant literacy culture through collaboration between local government, schools, families, communities and society.
As an area that is still mostly natural forest and can only be reached via river routes and long land journeys, Malinau shows that strengthening literacy can grow from universal participation.
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.In this spirit, the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Language Development and Development Agency (Badan Bahasa) collaborates with the Innovation Program for Indonesian School Children (INOVASI), an educational partnership between the Indonesian and Australian governments, to hold a talk show.
The event was entitled “Stories from the Border: Good Practices of Universal Participation in Literacy Development in Malinau, North Kalimantan” to disseminate good literacy practices that support the National Literacy Movement and the vision of Quality Education for All.
Head of the Language Development and Development Agency, Hafidz Muksin, in his presentation emphasized that literacy is the main foundation in developing human resources and achieving national education goals.
“Literacy is an important foundation for gaining knowledge and technology. Education and literacy cannot be separated to realize national education goals,” he said at the Language Agency Office, Jakarta on Thursday (21/5).
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Hafidz emphasized that the vision of Quality Education for All promoted by the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu’ti, is based on the spirit that educational services can be enjoyed by all Indonesian people without exception.
“The most important pillars of education are teachers, adequate facilities and meaningful learning. Literacy is the main tool to improve students’ understanding, not just reading and writing, but understanding what they read,” he said.
He also said that good practices from Malinau show that geographical limitations are not an obstacle to building a strong literacy culture.
“People often say that disadvantaged, frontier, outermost (3T) and border areas have limitations. However, Malinau shows that with limitations, extraordinary innovation and creativity are born,” said Hafidz.
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Apart from that, Hafidz also revealed that the Reading Love Index for North Kalimantan Province is above the national average.
“The national Reading Love Index in 2025 is at 54.8. However, North Kalimantan reached 58.89. This is not a result that just happened. There is a story, hard work and a collective movement behind it, especially in Malinau Regency,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mother of Literacy for Malinau Regency, Maylenty Wempi, who was also a resource person in the talk show, emphasized that the literacy movement in her area was built through a spirit of mutual cooperation with a family-based approach.
“The literacy movement in Malinau Regency is a collective movement. It is not only the government’s job, but everyone plays a role,” he said.***
