Casio to Hold Webinars for Indonesian Teachers to Implement Online Classes Using Scientific Calculators

Casio Computer Co., Ltd., announced that starting this month it will conduct webinars on implementing online classes using scientific calculators, for mathematics teachers in the West Sumatra province of Indonesia. Casio will conduct ten seminars through December 2020, assisting schools that have had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more than 30 years, Casio has been working around the world to promote the further use of scientific calculators in mathematics classes and tests, in an effort to expand the educational scientific calculator business. Under what it calls the GAKUHAN activity, Casio collaborates with education officials and teachers to develop localized versions of scientific calculators and create teaching materials that make use of scientific calculators, based on local curriculums and textbooks. Additionally, Casio conducts teacher training so that they can implement classes using scientific calculators.

By promoting the use of scientific calculators in schools, the GAKUHAN activity is building a stable business model in which scientific calculators are purchased annually by students as they start their next level of education. Casio ships more than two million scientific calculators per year. In 2019, Casio unveiled its Medium-term Management Plan that positions the educational scientific calculator business as a growth business. Casio is implementing the GAKUHAN activity with an emphasis on emerging economies including those in the ASEAN region.

In recent years, the government of Indonesia has been focusing on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to contribute to the improvement of students’ academic abilities and enhance the quality of its mathematics and science education. In September 2018, Casio signed a partnership agreement with Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture to develop the competency of Indonesian teachers and students in STEM education. As part of the agreement, Casio has been collaborating with education officials from West Sumatra province to conduct training for mathematics teachers. Since the training was started in April 2019, teachers from more than 400 schools in West Sumatra province have received training, representing more than 70 percent of schools in the province.

The webinars launching this month will help teachers implement online classes that use scientific calculators, in response to school closures in Indonesia due to COVID-19. In addition to helping mathematics teachers in West Sumatra, the webinars describe the usefulness of scientific calculators as suitable learning tools for both in-class and online education. Casio is conducting 10 seminars in cooperation with education officials in West Sumatra and associations for mathematics teachers. The goal will be to have more than 400 mathematics teachers attend the seminars, to promote the use of scientific calculators in mathematics classes as a standard part of curriculums.

The success of the webinars will contribute to mathematics education in West Sumatra, Indonesia, and develop a GAKUHAN activity that can be implemented in other regions leading to further growth of the educational scientific calculator business.