Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 1, Februari 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 18 THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY LEADER IN DEVELOPING THE ACTIVITY OF TUNAS MANDIRI EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION RW (HAMLET.) 27 PADALARANG SUBDISTRICT, WEST BANDUNG Tita Rosita IKIP Siliwangi titarosita54@gmail.com ABSTRACT The Implementation of Early Childhood Education (ECD) is to optimally grow, develop and foster the full potential of early childhood. So it could form basic behaviors and abilities of children in accordance with the stage of development in favor of having per preparation to enter further education and achieve the objective of education. In reality, the implementation of ECD in the community is not maximal that caused by various factors. One of the issues has been suffered by TUNAS MANDIRI ECD located at RW (Hamlet) 27, Padalarang subdistrict, West Bandung. For 11 years TUNAS MANDIRI ECD has not shown a significant Since it established in 2007, in other words, the learning process goes flat. But, in early 2017 and last 2018, this ECD shows an improvement. Therefore, this research is conducted by determining the research question; how the Community Leader in fostering TUNAS MANDIRI ECD in Padalarang Indah Regency, Padalarang, West Bandung. This research uses a descriptive qualitative method, with interviews and observation as a data collection technique. All data was taken from Community Leader, teacher of ECD, and the educators. There are four questions that answered by this research; How was the initial condition of the school, why this school did not show any progress for 11 years since it established, what factor that initiate the development in 2017 and what progress that achieved in 2017. As the result, the initial situation of this school are; having 30 students, 6 teacher, and educators. As a classroom, the ECD occupies an empty house. And for 11 years it did not develop due to the influence of passive community leaders, none of the teachers and educators were graduated from Early Childhood major. It means that the competence is not as it required, yet they follow various seminar, training, and HIMPAUDI Activity. The development since 2017 is due to the very responsive role of the head of the hamlet by having a clear mission to make this ECD as the most advance ECD in Padalarang. Key Words: Community Leader, ECD, Development INTRODUCTION The Implementation of Early Childhood Education (ECD) is to optimally grow, develop and foster the full potential of early childhood. So it could form basic behaviors and abilities of children in accordance with the stage of development in favor of having per preparation to enter further education and achieve the national objective of education. ECD is also regarded as the core of in fostering children personality. And it is also the most basic education as a strategy to develop human resources. Parent participation in the implementation of Early Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 1, Februari 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 19 Childhood Education is the main key to the sustainability of the specified program. (Megawati.D. 2012: 60-64) Tunas Mandiri ECD Padalarang West Bandung established in 2007. All children in the area of Pondok Padalarang Indah Regency have benefited from the ECD. However, for 11 years since its establishment, the activity has been slow. And it can be said that it doesn't develop. In a long time, it went flat without any progress compared to other ECD that newly established. As an indicator, for eleven years, the classroom is placed in an empty house that is not occupied by the owner, it has monotonous activities, the constant number of students from year to year and the competency of the teacher has not changed as well, all of the teacher and educator are senior high school graduates and none of them having an ECD bachelor degree or even a Bachelor degree. Since the replacement of the hamlet management, in 2017, the ECD’s activities begun to shows progress. There are responsive attention and guidance from the head of the hamlet, as the indicators, the main facilities for learning have been built. The ECD’s room has been established in just one month with 5x5 meters large. There are a study room and an outdoor courtyard for playing. So this research formulates the problem, namely "What is the role of community leaders in advancing Tunas Mandiri ECD Pondok Padalarang Indah Regency, Padalarang, West Bandung. From the problems that arise, four research questions are established. The research question is How was the initial condition of the school, why this school did not show any progress for 11 years since it established, what factor that initiate the development in 2017 and what progress that achieved in 2017 RESEARCH METHOD Research has been carried out at Early Childhood Education (PAUD/ECD) Tunas Mandiri located in Pondok Padalarang Indah regency, RW 27, Padalarang, West Bandung. The study takes place from October to December 2018. this research uses qualitative descriptive research. In the process, the author describes clearly and in detail without engineering everything found in the field. Data collected is sourced from research subjects, namely community leaders, teachers, and educators. The technique of collecting data is through personal interviews, group interviews, observation during teaching and learning activities, observing existing facilities. All data that is owned is analyzed that project in a scientific report. THEORETICAL REVIEW The Law on National Education System Number 20 of 2003 article 14 expressly states that Early Childhood Education (PAUD) is a coaching effort, aimed at children from birth (0) to age (6) years, carried out through the provision of educational stimuli in helping spiritual and physical growth and development. This is so that children have readiness in entering further education (Tedjawati, 2011: 123-133). Every institution administering education must continue to improve teacher competency. This was achieved by initiatives from principals, teachers, teacher forums, school committees, local governments, central government, and private institutions. The efforts made by the Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 1, Februari 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 20 teacher in the form of continuing education, participating in various seminars, workshops, upgrading, and various training (Rochayadi, 2014: 1-10) The low ability and quality of early childhood educators are very influential on the low quality of education and learning conducted by PAUD institutions. One example is that the practice of early childhood education is still inadequate. So that there was a lot of criticism from the public. For example, the process of teaching and learning activities is too academic, structured and rigid. Another example is a learning activity that emphasizes writing, reading, and arithmetic. In fact, there are still many aspects of child development that are neglected and have not received balanced attention. Such as independence, self-control, creativity development, positive self-concept development, and other positive behaviors (Rochayadi, 2014: 1-10) According to Wahyu Ramadoni, Kusmitardjo, Imran Arifin (2016: 1500-1504), that being a headmaster is not easy to do just anyone in carrying out their duties as an education leader. Because the principal has a big responsibility in guiding the human resources around him to be able to develop. The policy of developing early childhood education must be followed by teachers and educators who have competency. Especially pedagogical competence because teachers have an important role in the education process in ECD. In fact, many non-formal ECD teachers have not met the standards qualification as determined by the government. Good academic qualifications according to Minister of Education Regulation No. 16 of 2007 concerning Academic Qualification Standards and Teacher Competencies, or other competencies in accordance with Minister of Education Regulation No. 58 of 2009, concerning ECD Standards (Hermawan, 2013: 149-159). The implementation of ECD activities generally has received support from the community. This is a manifestation of mutual attention, care, and responsibility about the importance of ECD for the people of Indonesia. And, the Government has also played a role in fostering and facilitating the quality of ECD Educators. With the aim of having better competency as Educators (Rochayadi, 2014: 1-10) RESULT AND DISCUSSION Result The initial condition of Tunas Mandiri ECD RW 27 that established in 2007 is as follows. For 11 years the classroom that has been used is an empty house which is not used by the owner. There were 30 students and 6 teachers. The headmaster of the school has a bachelor degree yet not Early Childhood education major. While the teacher is senior highs school graduates or Teacher Education School graduates. Thus, the school has not an administrator that graduated from Early Childhood Education. Thus, principals and teachers do not have competencies as expected for ECD. However, as fostering the ability in school management, they often attend training, seminars, and workshops on Early Childhood Education both organized by the government or HIMPAUDI. This is in accordance with the opinion of Rochayadi (2014: 1-10) that each school continues to strive to improve teacher competence. This was achieved through initiatives from the teachers themselves, principals, school committees, teacher forums, local government and Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 1, Februari 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 21 central government and private institutions. Meanwhile, the teacher's business is trying to continue education, attend training, upgrading, workshops or seminars. During the 11 years since the establishment of 2007, learning activities went flat. There were no significant developments. Based on observations and interviews, this happens because of many factors. Among them are caused by the influence of passive Community Leaders, teachers, and principals who do not have maximum competence and inadequate facilities. The lack of development of Tunas Mandiri ECD for 11 years is in line with what was revealed by Tedjawati (2011: 133) that socialization was not carried out for the community in ECD activities. So far, there has been little understanding of early childhood education, including a lack of coordination between ECD educators and Education staff in every province, district/ city and sub-district. This resulted in the number of early childhood being accommodated still far from the expected number. As well as the lack of development and an increase in the number of ECD educators and education staff. In fact, this is very important for the success of early childhood education. Therefore, to coordinate and socialize the PAUD program, to improve the effectiveness, HIMPAUDI (Indonesia Teacher and educator of Early Childhood Education Association) and has been established as the headquarter which was declared in Batu, Malang, East Java on 31 August 2005. The establishment of HIMPAUDI is to help the government handle tasks that cannot be done due to Human Resources. PAUD Tunas Mandiri’s teachers, totaling six people consist of five high school graduates, one SPG graduate. This is not as expected. Whereas teacher competence is very influential on the quality of education, as according to Rochayadi (2014: 1-10) that the quality of the ability of educators of early childhood is low, will result in the low quality of education and learning carried out in ECD institutions. For example, until now there are activities in early childhood education that still inaccurate. It caused a lot of critics. For example, the process of education and learning is too academic, structured and rigid. Or there are still many learning activities that emphasized reading, writing, and counting. In fact, there are still many aspects of child development that have not received balanced attention. Such as the development of creativity, independence, the development of positive self-concepts, self-control, and other positive behaviors. The importance of teachers who have high competency quality in Early Childhood Education (PAUD) development is further said by Hermawan (2013: 149-159) that on the other hand as an important part of the main program of national education development, policies for developing children's education Early age is also always accompanied by competent educators or teachers because the role of teachers is very important in the education process in PAUD institutions. In fact, there are still many non-formal PAUD teachers who have not met the standards qualification set by the government, both academic qualifications according to Minister of National Education No. 16 of 2007 concerning Academic Qualification Standards and Teacher Competencies, and other competencies in accordance with Permendiknas No. 58 of 2009 concerning ECD Standards. The principal at Tunas Mandiri ECD has not EDC education background graduate, this is one of the causes of why the school did not show any progress in 11 years of activity. Because according to Wahyu Ramadoni, Kusmitardjo, Imran Arifin (2016: 1500-1504) that being a Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 1, Februari 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 22 headmaster is not easy for anyone to do his job as an education leader. The principal has a great responsibility in guiding every human resource around him in order to develop. Furthermore, it is said that in general, principals are not only the spearhead in the success of an educational institution, especially in basic education. In a basic education requires high consistency and good effectiveness in managing and producing competent output in the world of education, principals are also assisted by teachers and employees in carrying out their duties so that they can easily achieve the expected goals. The principal not only produces a product, as does the director of a car company that only produces dead goods. However, principals as education leaders are responsible for creating a conducive learning environment to develop the potential of teachers, employees, and students as optimally as possible. (Wahyu Ramadoni, Kusmitardjo, Imran Arifin, 2016: 1500-1504) Other causes of the lack of development of Tunas Mandiri ECD for 11 years were caused by Community Leaders who were less responsive and passive. In this case, the hamlet administrators who have experienced 5 periods give low attention to the progress of the EDC. So that there is a lack of guidance from Community Leaders whereas according to (Rochayadi, 2014) that ECD implementation, in general, has been supported by most of the community, as a manifestation of attention, care and shared responsibility for the importance of ECD for the Indonesian people. In this case, the Government also participates actively in fostering and facilitating the quality of ECD Educators so that they have the competence as Educators to be better. Thus the government, including the Community Leader, is very instrumental in fostering and facilitating the quality of ECD. Since the chairman of the RW 27 Padalarang subdistrict, West Bandung was elected in 2017, Drs. Wawan Suparwan made many progress and activities in the Tunas Mandiri PAUD. Result The initial progress achieved was the construction of a building for learning and playing. Development runs quickly, it only takes one month, from December 2017 to January 2018, The classroom building for ECD which is 5x5 meters wide, there is a classroom, and a yard for playing. So that since January 2018 this ECD already had their own main facilities and no longer use an empty house. Another progress that has been shown by the leader is by giving supervision and guidance. Because the head of RW 27 also acted as functions as a supervisor who supervise the progress of ECD. The head of RW 27 has a mission that Tunas Mandiri ECD will be the most advance ECD in Padalarang. With the mission of the Community Leader, it will certainly be a stimulus and motivation for managers to get better achievements. Advancing the required facilities, the head of hamlet, gave way as a mediator for funding assistance from Padalarang government by submitting a proposal. Because funds are needed to complete the Educational Game Tool (APE), and other infrastructure. As a further plan, then the head of RW 27 will try to increase the monthly incentives for school principals, teachers and educators of Tunas Mandiri ECD. It is needed because the incentives are still low which does not meet the needs of the administrator. And will continue to improve supervision and ongoing guidance so that so that this ECD will become the most Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 1, Februari 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 23 advance ECD in Padalarang. incentives are not only in the form of financial assistance, but also in the form of support for resources, especially in empowering women, as one of the main drivers in early childhood education. This is expected to also develop women's empowerment in these locations (Karwati, Ansori, Mulyono, 2018 : 170). CONCLUSION First, the initial condition of the PAUD Tunas Mandiri RW 27 Pondok Padalarang Indah Regency, Padalarang subdistrict, West Bandung is very modest. The Classroom for children using empty houses that are not occupied by their owners with an area of 5x4 meters. The principal and his teacher do not yet have competencies that are in accordance with PAUD. Of the 6 teachers only one with bachelor degree graduate and the other are high school and SPG graduate. As well as children's game equipment is still limited. Second, since its establishment in 2007 until 2017, for 11 years the condition of PAUD activities went flat, there was no progress and development. The main cause is passivity and lack of attention from community leaders. Another thing is the absence of managers who have the appropriate competencies for PAUD. There are no principals or teachers who have PAUD graduates, although debriefing is still obtained through training, workshops and become a member of HIMPAUDI. Third, since early 2017 when the new head of RW 27 Padalarang subdistrict was elected, the progress has begun. Beginning with the construction of the main facilities, classrooms for learning and playing. Thus, the existence of community leaders who respond and care brings major changes to the development of Tunas Mandiri ECD. Fourth, progress achieved after 2017 is the construction of study rooms, the addition of Educational Teaching Aids (APE), the formation and supervision, the existence of a mission from the leaders to make Tunas Mandiri ECD as the most advance ECD in Padalarang. And there are other programs, namely by strengthening and facilitating relations to get funding assistance from Padalarang Governmental Officers. BIBLIOGRAPHY Hermawan, A. R. (2013). Peran gugus PAUD Dalam Menungkatkan Kompetensi Guru PAUD Non Formal di Kecamatan Ciranjang Kabupaten Cianjur. Jurnal Empowerment, 149-159. L Karwati, A Ansori, D Mulyono. (2018). Women Empowerment to Build Entrepreneurship. Journal of Nonformal Education 4 (2), 169-176 Megawati, D. (2012). meningkatkan partisipasi Orang Tua pada Program PAUD Melalui Penyuluhan di Pos PAUD Melati 03 (Kelurahan Padasuka Kecamatan Cimahi Tengah Kota Cimahi. Jurnal Empowerment, 60-64. Rochayadi, I. (2014). Upaya meningkatkan Kopetnsi guru PAUD Melalui Pendidikan dan Pelatihan Guru di PAUD Bougenvile Kecamatan Sukajadi Kota Bandung. Jurnal Empowerment, 1-10. Tedjawati, J.(2011). Peran HIMPAUDI Dalam Mengembangkan PAUD. Jurnal Pendidikan dan kebudayan Vo.7. No.1, 123-133. Wahyu Ramadoni, Kusmitardjo, Imran Arifin. (2016). Kepemimpinan Kepala Sekolah dalam upaya Peningkatan kinerja guru (Studi Multi Kasus di PAUD Islam Sabilillah dan SDN Tanjungsari 1 Kabupaten Sidoarjo. Jurnal Pendidikan Vol.1 No.8, 1500-1504.