Illiteracy remains a serious problem in West Papua, Indonesia. The data from Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) show nearly 30 percent of Indigenous Papuans aged between 15 to 45 are illiterate (BPS, 2016). The number is far higher than the national average which is only 3.5 percent (BPS, 2016). In response to the problem, the article aims to provide a brief picture of causes and effects behind the high illiteracy rate in West Papua and to recommend a relevant solution for the problem. The methodology undertaken in this article is a literature review. Relevant literatures are obtained through peer-reviewed articles from reliable journals and any other relevant sources. The results reveal three main factors that contribute to the low literacy level in West Papua; geographical challenges, low human resources and diverse vernacular languages. Due to the high illiterate percentage, Papuan community has been experiencing serious health issue, poverty, poor educational access and low social cohesion. The article also proposes a so-called Yo Si Puedo (YSP) as an alternative non-formal literacy program to strengthen basic literacy in West Papua. It is because YSP can be highly adaptable to the Papuan context in terms of language, culture and social reality.

This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the development of Indonesia's curriculum and Hong Kong's curriculum, with a focus on identifying the underlying philosophical values and influences embedded in both educational systems. The research also explores the implications of these curricula on various stakeholders involved in their development and implementation. To achieve these objectives, a synthesis research approach was employed, analyzing a combination of empirical and conceptual papers to draw robust conclusions. The study yielded four key findings that shed light on public opinions, philosophy, goals, and implications of the curricula. Firstly, both the Indonesian curriculum and the Hong Kong curriculum received predominantly positive responses from stakeholders, with minor complaints reported through official surveys. Secondly, the philosophical foundation of the Indonesian curriculum centers around social justice, while the Hong Kong curriculum places a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusivity. Furthermore, both curricula have implicit purposes that can be inferred from the range of topics covered in the respective curriculum guidebooks. Finally, the implementation of these curricula has led stakeholders in each country to issue policies aimed at consolidating their influence. In Hongkong, the promotion of the Chinese-based course serves to strengthen China's power in the field of English education. Conversely, in Indonesia, efforts have been made to preserve the Indonesian language by removing the English subject at the primary level and reducing the time allocation for English in secondary education. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the development and influences of curricula in Indonesia and Hong Kong, providing valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and researchers.

As mathematics has been viewed for decades as a strereotyped male domain, gender differences in mathematics learning have received strong attention from scholars. This study, therefore, investigates the influences of gender differences on students’ performance in learning math in secondary school context. The study used a synthesis research. This method of research is undertaken by synthesizing any relevant studies in order to draw conclusion. Some empirical studies investigating the issues of gender difference and learning match were carefully analyzed and synthesized to draw the links between gender differences and secondary students’ academic achievements in learning math. The findings show that male students outperform female students in mathematics learning for three reasons. First, social gender stereotypes about students’ math ability may lead students to endorse math-gender stereotype themselves. This kind of stereotype makes male students more confident whereas female students become more anxious. Second, personality and spatial ability, as representors in mentality, have commonly been proven that another reason for the advantage of male students in mathematics education. The last is physical advantages in which current evidences suggest that males are more active in some brain areas which are related to mathematics ability. This essay highly recommends future research focus on physical reasons of gender difference in mathematics learning.

Poverty in Indonesia has experienced a continual decrease in the last decades. However, the numbers of people living under the poverty line in the country are still constant at above 10 percent. The study intended to review the influence of poverty on students' academic achievements in Papua. The study aims to explore the measurement of poverty, types of poverty, poverty and its effect in Papua, how poverty affects students’ academic achievements, and possible recommendations. Some research studies have found how poverty negatively disturbs the students' academic achievements. The results indicate that poverty affects students’ academic achievements in Papua and even leads them to school dropout. Becoming one of Indonesia's most impoverished regions with a high poverty rate, the academic achievement among students in Papua is highly correlated with poverty, health and safety issues, food security, parental behaviour, acute, chronic and stressor, and social and emotional challenges. Such situations later decrease their academic achievements in school.

This article aims to investigate the studies about the implementation Augmented Reality (AR) in Education, particularly to have a closer look at the opportunities and challenges of AR application in Indonesian educational context. Finding of this study were analyzed through a synthesis research. The current empirical studies related to AR implementation in education were descriptively analyzed, and carefully synthesized. AR is one of the emerging technologies which has a big promise on teaching and learning. This study reveals that AR may offer a meaningful and engaging learning experiences because AR based learning can provide critical thinking activity with problem solving tasks. Furthermore, well-designed AR may situate a collaborative learning which can enhance students’ positive behavior and attitude. However, this essay also reveals some limitations of AR application need to be taken into consideration, especially when it comes to technological and learning issues. Consequently, AR may not be the ideal solution for all learning settings, yet the ongoing development of AR technology on handheld mobile devices offers a big optimism for future learning. It is highly expected that the vast development of AR may positively influence learning and become more significant in the future.