Author Talk

The education world in Indonesia faces a serious challenge – the literacy skills of Indonesian children. Over the past few years, Indonesia’s participation in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) test consistently places it within the bottom 10 rankings. The PISA test assesses the performance of 15-year-old students in Reading, Mathematics, and Science.

Given this situation, it has become an obligation for all parties to enhance students’ literacy skills, especially by cultivating a love for reading. Reading skills and a love for books should be an integral part of every student’s life. Therefore, the Indonesian Language teaching at MSHS BINUS SCHOOL Semarang uses class novels as the primary source for Bahasa Indonesia lesson across all levels.

For the 8th grade, students are reading Ahmad Fuadi’s “Negeri 5 Menara” for the first semester of the academic year 2023-2024. In Indonesian language classes, students read, research the life in Islamic boarding schools, and discover the extraordinary teachings of life within the book.

To bring the readers, especially 8th-grade students, closer to the author of their class novel, on 30 October 2023, from 3:20 to 4:20 PM, students had the opportunity to meet online the author of “Negeri 5 Menara,” Mr. Ahmad Fuadi. During this event, students expressed their impressions of the book, listened to the author’s presentation on how the novel “Negeri 5 Menara” came to be, and had the opportunity to ask the author specific details about the book.

The event, organized in collaboration with the NATKUR Department and LRC BINUS SCHOOL Semarang, has left a profound impression on the students.