Developing gender equality in Indonesia through education<\/p>\n
Alpha Amirrachman, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite the recently lifted beauty pageant ban slapped on our
\nwomen -- which prevent any from participation in the Miss
\nUniverse competition in 1996 -- on the grounds of \"cultural,
\nreligious and sexual exploitation\" reasons, gender inequality has
\nalways been ubiquitous in our society.<\/p>\n
A feminist friend summed it up with a simple, clear sentence:
\n\"Women and men are not identical, but they are equal.\" The first
\nclause shows sexuality, while the second gender awareness. \"The
\nproblem is the two are intimately related,\" she explained. In a
\npatriarchal society they are overlapped, resulting in social
\ninequality. Marriage, pregnancy and menstruation, which are
\nassociated with sexuality, are regarded as \"natural obstructions\"
\nthat prevent women from receiving equal treatment in society.<\/p>\n
In education, many parents have long given priority to their
\nsons in furthering their education, not their daughters based on
\nthe argument, \"Our daughters will end up cooking in the kitchen
\nanyway.\"<\/p>\n
But recent statistics from the National Education Ministry
\nshows something encouraging: Participation at elementary school
\nlevel was 96.64 percent for males and 94.34 percent for females.
\nIn junior high, the gap nearly disappears with 56.62 percent and
\n56.30 percent for males and females, respectively.<\/p>\n
And, notably, female students are statistically more
\nsuccessful in completing each level of education. At the
\nelementary level it is 96.18 percent and 95.88 percent; in junior
\nhigh it is 93.28 percent and 90.83 percent and at high school it
\nis 95.95 percent and 94.91 percent. For higher education it is
\n15.39 percent and 14.22 percent for female and male students,
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
If we examine the workforce issue, however, the numbers are
\nquite disappointing. The statistics show that females in the
\nworkforce generally receive lower incomes than their male
\ncounterparts. Another example is in civil servant recruitment,
\nwhere there is a wide gulf between successful applicants -- males
\n(62.40 percent) and females (33.25 percent).<\/p>\n
In the national political structure, women are represented by
\nonly 8 percent of their own. So it can be concluded that the
\noutput of our education system is still considered very low and a
\nlarge proportion of women still do not receive proper education.
\nThis is evident as a large number of women leave their families
\nto work as domestic helpers in foreign countries. Out of 1.95
\nmillion Indonesians working overseas, 65 percent are women.<\/p>\n
Many of them have been treated in an inhumane manner --
\ntortured, raped and killed -- and without adequate judicial
\nprotection from our representatives. Worse still, our domestic
\nthugs often prey on them right from their arrival at the airport.
\nRegrettably, women -- who make up a vital part of the paid
\nIndonesian labor force -- are prone to exploitation.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, quite ironically, aside from working overseas,
\nothers are also still subjected to violence at home. Domestic
\nviolence, for example, is spiraling as result of the socially
\nconstructed patriarchal perception, which is still prevalent in
\nour society. And it largely goes unreported, apparently due to
\nfears of a harsher backlash. A female friend whose face was
\nblack-and-blue only dared to whisper about her ordeal to her best
\nfemale friend. One study shows that marital rape and sexual
\nassault are on the rise, which confirms men's perceived sexual
\nentitlement.<\/p>\n
Why does all this happen here?<\/p>\n
Arguably, first, despite the \"statistical progress\" in gender
\nequality in school participation, education remains an
\nunattainable luxury for too many young women and girls.<\/p>\n
Second, there is a lack of adequate education in society about
\ngender issues. Deep under the surface there is problem of mental
\nawareness.<\/p>\n
Are our schools guilty of nurturing this mental awareness?
\nPartially yes. In addition to many families and the media,
\nschools are responsible for inculcating the dominant values of
\nsociety. Although the development of our curriculum is steadily
\nmoving toward the elimination of gender bias, gender stereotypes
\nremain intact.<\/p>\n
If we ask teachers most would say that they are against
\ndiscrimination, but it is an open secret that social norms that
\ncontinue the unequal treatment of girls and the preferential
\ntreatment of boys still prevail, though perhaps just on a
\nsubconscious level.<\/p>\n
For example, some young women at a vocational school say that
\nthey receive covert mockery from the young men (who dominate the
\nschool), especially during metal-working classes. And the
\nteachers ignore it. This can be perilous; particularly as we are
\nnow adopting a competence-based curriculum, for this can
\ndiscourage girls from exploring and developing their genuine
\ninterests to achieve competence.<\/p>\n
So how do we nurture gender awareness in our education system?
\nSex education seems to be the answer. However, if we examine the
\ntext books, most of what is termed \"sex education\" is science-
\nbased, which simply provides \"technical\" information on
\npregnancy, reproduction and birth.<\/p>\n
Although one text of violence against women can be found in
\nour new civic education, substantive discussion on values of the
\nrelationship between males and females and the subsequent social
\nconsequences are still rare. Or, if this were to be further
\ndeveloped by teachers, would it be possible to do effectively,
\namid the latent patriarchal culture and degradation of women in
\nour society?<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that we once had a female president, the
\ncases above show that what my feminist friends dreamed of that
\n\"Women and men are not identical, but they are equal\" is still
\nfrom a reality in our society. And schools are partly responsible
\nfor this. Decisive policies to provide more access to education
\nfor women and a pedagogical campaign for gender equality is
\ntherefore indispensable.<\/p>\n
And perhaps Artika Sari Devi, an educated Muslim woman, can
\nalso seriously help to campaign for this \"education for all
\nwomen\" and silence those who are cynical about her taking part in
\nthe Miss Universe competition, which is not merely about physical
\nbeauty, but also about inner beauty, intelligence, knowledge,
\nskills, and dignity.<\/p>\n
The writer is an education and social analyst at Public Sphere
\nInstitute. He can be reached at a.amirrachman@usyd.edu.au.<\/p>",
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