Jambi City Bets on Storytelling and Fish to Raise Smarter, Stunting-Free Children

RRI.CO.ID, Jambi - In a city square filled with children, parents, and educators, Jambi City Administration in Jambi Province on Thursday, June 5, 2026, launched a cross-sector initiative, namely Bedtime Stories and Affordable Fish, to fight against childhood stunting and learning gaps.

The Children's Education, Nutrition, Growth and Development and Literacy Movement, or Gentala, Happy Jambi City, was unveiled at Kongkow Park on June 4, 2026, under the theme Together with Gentala, Creating Jambi Children Who Are Smart, Healthy, Literate, Characterful, and Free from Stunting.

The program was initiated by Jambi City's Early Childhood Education Patron, Nadiyah, as a collaborative platform cutting across health, education, and community sectors.

The launch brings together the City Health Agency, Education Agency, early childhood education organizations, and parents under a single framework. This collaborative effort aims to strengthen child development from the ground up by simultaneously targeting literacy, nutrition, character education, and stunting reduction.

Nadiyah stressed that building a quality future generation demands collective effort across multiple sectors, not any single institution working alone.

"This activity is the result of collaboration among various parties who share the same goal, ensuring that Jambi City's children can grow up healthy, intelligent, and ready to become quality successors for the nation," she said, as quoted by infopublik.id.

She emphasized that early childhood represents a critical window for shaping cognitive ability, character, and long-term health, making investment at this stage both urgent and irreversible. Gentala, she explained, was designed precisely to intervene during this period through a holistic approach rather than narrowly targeting one issue.

Among its distinctive elements, the program champions storytelling and oral narrative as tools for early literacy development. This approach goes beyond building vocabulary to strengthening the emotional bond between children and their parents.

"Today we learn that literacy can start from something simple, like storytelling. Besides enriching a child's vocabulary, this activity also strengthens the emotional closeness between children and parents," said Nadiyah.

She added that the habit can introduce children to positive values, improve communication skills, and reduce dependence on non-educational digital content.

On the nutrition front, Nadiyah called on parents to pay closer attention to animal protein consumption as a cornerstone of stunting prevention, singling out fish as an accessible and nutritionally rich option for most families.

"The most important nutrient for a child's growth and development is animal protein, and one of the best sources within reach of the community is fish," she said.

The launch day itself offered a range of hands-on activities reflecting the program's breadth. These included early literacy sessions, child development screenings, parental health checks, child-rearing education for stunting prevention, and interactive storytelling sessions.

The multi-pronged design signals a deliberate departure from health-only approaches to stunting, positioning the family environment as the primary arena where development is either won or lost.

Through Gentala, city officials aim to ensure that the work of building an exceptional generation is comprehensive, which spans nutrition, character formation, literacy, and family health in one integrated effort.

The program is envisioned as a key instrument in preparing Jambi's children to be healthy, competitive, and ready to carry Indonesia toward its Golden 2045 golden generation goals. At the same time, it deepens the city's long-term commitment to driving stunting rates sustainably downward. ***

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