On Tuesday, August 6, 2019 Tzu Chi Early Childhood was both honoured and excited to welcome the panel of judges of the Lomba Sekolah Sehat Tingkat Nasional 2019 (national competition for healthy schools) who were representatives of various ministries, namely; the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Religion led by Mr Eko Wahyudi Hidayat; the Chief Judge. Tzu Chi Early Childhood is representing nationally, the Jakarta province and is competing with 25 other kindergartens in Indonesia to obtain the title of ‘Healthy School’, as a school with the ‘healthiest’ way of life.

Our Early Childhood students welcomed the delegates at the lobby entrance, and draped handmade medals to all seven judges saying ‘Sehat dimulai dari Saya’ which translates into ‘Health Starts with Me’. This statement is something that Tzu Chi Early Childhood believes could help the school to achieve its goal to become a ‘Healthy School’. 

The morning session was hosted by Ms Maya, and two K2 students, Darren and Anabelle. Attending the morning meeting were officials from Jakarta’s social and education agencies, Tzu Chi School director Mr Sudino Lim, and Tzu Chi Early Childhood Principal Ms Iing Felicia Joe. 

Mr Ali Maulana, North Jakarta’s Deputy Mayor, in his welcoming speech said that, ‘Tzu Chi School has surpassed the expectation at almost every criteria during the competition, at the provincial level. I hope Jakarta can win this through the efforts done at Tzu Chi School.’

Both Mr Ali and Ms Iing also highlighted the use of parent portal website called PowerSchool, which provides real-time access for parents to their child's grades, attendance, assignments, as well as students’ health information and status. As soon as a child is ill, or is staying at the school’s clinic (UKS), PowerSchool will notify parents instantly to keep them informed about their child’s well-being.

There is a number of criteria, which must be achieved, to be considered as a ‘healthy school’, they are: a comprehensive school clinic (UKS)--since school clinic would be the first facility for an ill student to come to, a clean and green school environment--this includes good air circulation, a clean canteen, and a clean composting area for the environment. 

Mr Kusmanto, of the Jakarta Social Agency, is optimistic towards Tzu Chi School’s chances of becoming the national champion, ‘From what I can see today, it is clear that the school is very clean; students here, despite their young age have the awareness to always wash their hands. The goal of having a ‘healthy school’ is to have the perfect and clean environment to study, which I believe would help in encouraging children to study comfortably. This of course, then leads to producing smart and happy students,’

Mr Kusmanto also expressed his wish for Tzu Chi School to win, in the hope that Tzu Chi School can become a role model for other schools, even adopting the use of PowerSchool App to monitor students’ progress. 

The assessment period for the competition was started from early this year until August, and the winner will be announced in October later this year.