Universitas Indonesia (UI) through the Vocational Education Program held community service activities (pengmas) on Panggang Island, Kepulauan Seribu. Carrying out the theme of managing and planning household finances, the community service focuses on the people of Panggang Island, who are mostly fishermen and have additional income from homestay ownership. As many as forty Panggang Island residents attended to take part in financial literacy activities.
The head of the service team, Karin Amelia Safitri, S.Pd., M.Si., said that financial problems often arise due to insufficient income to meet daily needs. She explained, “To overcome the problems that arise, skills in managing finances in the household are needed. Both housewives and fathers as heads of households need to know about this management. Financial management needs to be done together and must be done openly and honestly because it is a shared responsibility.”
Together with other community service teams, Karin provided simple methods for managing household finances, namely identifying needs, checking wallets, budgeting, financial planning, and financial records. “We invite participants to fill out a needs identification sheet. In other words, they need to sort out the most urgent needs or those that are the top priority in their daily lives,” added Karin.
Furthermore, Panggang Island residents were asked to calculate the amount of income, both main and additional income every month. Apart from income, they also need to calculate all expenses every month. If the expenditure is greater than income, then participants are asked to identify which expenses can be reduced.
Anita (40 years), a Panggang Island housewife, said that financial literacy is very useful in managing her household’s finances. “We learned that financial management requires detailed calculations and adjustments to daily needs. I thank the community service team from UI Vocational Program for attending and providing us with new insights about financial management,” said Anita at the community service which was held on August 19th 2023.
In addition, the Director of the UI Vocational Education Program, Padang Wicaksono, S.E., Ph.D, welcomed the community service activities carried out by the UI Vocational lecturers. “Various community service activities related to financial literacy are one of the focuses carried out by lecturers of UI Vocational program. One of them is given to the residents of Panggang Island. I hope that economic equality in Indonesia can be realized through community service activities carried out by lecturers of the UI Vocational program,” said Padang.
