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Through this synergy, Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem hopes that computer science and informatics teachers will be directly taught by teacher fellows from Harvard University, namely Prof. David J. Malan, about computer science and programming.

The Directorate General of Teachers and Educational Personnel (Ditjen GTK) of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia collaborates with the Education Fund Management Agency (LPDP) to once again organize the Microcredential Program CS50x Indonesia–Harvard University. Following the success of last year's pilot program, there has been an increase in the number of teacher participants from 150 to 273 teachers at the junior high school, senior high school, and vocational school levels.

After the CS50x Program takes place online for 22 weeks, selected participants will attend a 5-day offline program at Jakarta Intercultural School guided directly by Prof. David J. Malan, Gordon McKay Professor, Practice of Computer Science at Harvard University. Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim also attended with Prof. David Malan at the offline seminar opening titled "Digital Skills for Teachers" at Graha Ristekdikti Building D, Kemendikbudristek Complex, Jakarta on Thursday (7/3) as quoted from the Ministry of Education and Culture RI press release.

In his dialogue with Prof. David Malan, Minister of Education and Culture emphasizes that the implementation of the CS50x program is a manifestation of the commitment of the Merdeka Belajar (Freedom to Learn) movement in enhancing teacher competence.

"CS50x Indonesia–Harvard University is a concrete step, as a commitment of the Merdeka Belajar movement, to continuously improve the competence of teachers in Indonesia. By participating in this program, I hope that teachers will gain knowledge relevant to the developments of the times as a provision to enhance the quality of learning," said Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim.

This program has been implemented with a combination of online and offline activities from October 2023 to March 2024. Teachers are taught directly by teacher fellows from Harvard University about computer science and the art of programming. The target of this program is open to all teachers and not limited to those teaching in the field of computer science and informatics.

One of the fundamental principles that teachers acquire in this program is Computational Thinking as the basis of thinking in the field of informatics. Furthermore, the principle is instilled that Informatics education is not just about using ICT as a tool, but as a means to make students into digital citizens.

Moreover, participant teachers also gain an understanding that Informatics is a flexible science with other fields of knowledge. Because, fundamentally, informatics devices are made to facilitate completing tasks in various fields of life and help solve problems in the modern era. Finally, a principle that is equally crucial in this era is that Informatics education should be able to produce a generation of creators so that students not only become technology users.

With these principles, the CS50x Indonesia–Harvard University program is in line with the spirit of Merdeka Belajar which emphasizes the improvement of teacher competence. This program contributes to improving educators' understanding to apply computer science principles in the learning process. Ultimately, after teachers return to teach in their respective schools, students are expected to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently.

"In the future, hopefully CS50x Indonesia–Harvard University will continue and many similar programs will emerge with the spirit of Merdeka Belajar," concluded Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim.

The Directorate General of Teachers and Educational Personnel (Ditjen GTK) has a special focus on improving teachers' digital skills, especially in Informatics. Considering that Informatics is one of the subjects in the Merdeka Curriculum.

"Ditjen GTK realizes that the subject of Informatics will be able to contribute computational thinking skills based on logic. Therefore, this subject becomes one of the subjects that contribute to the realization of the Pancasila Student Profile, especially in terms of fostering critical and creative thinking of students, as well as collaboration in global diversity in the real and virtual worlds," said the Director General of Teachers and Educational Personnel, Nunuk Suryani.

Not only in schools, outside of schools, students are also expected to think critically, creatively in creating and using technology, and have proficient digital literacy as members of society as well as ethical digital citizens.

IN