Education needs more funds, says Unicef official<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The allocation for education in the state budget
\nshould at least be doubled as a requisite for improving the
\neconomy with priority given to the primary and junior high
\nlevels, the country representative of Unicef said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Stephen J. Woodhouse said education, particularly that of
\nchildren, was one of the sectors worst hit by the crisis.
\nIndonesia, he noted, only had 10 percent of its budget allocated
\nfor education.<\/p>\n
Woodhouse was launching Unicef's State of the World's Children
\nReport 1999 with Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and
\nPoverty Eradication, Haryono Suyono.<\/p>\n
He mentioned that Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand provided
\nup to 23 percent of their state budget for education while the
\nfigure was 16 percent in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Students of the state-run teacher training college (IKIP) who
\nheld a demonstration on National Teachers Day last month also
\ndemanded a higher budget for education.<\/p>\n
The report launched in London on the same day by Unicef
\nexecutive director Carol Bellamy, revealed more than 130 million
\nchildren of primary school age including 73 million girls in
\ndeveloping countries were growing up without the benefit of
\nelementary education.<\/p>\n
Woodhouse said, \"We are all concerned that because of the
\ncrisis the achievements of over 50 years of independence are now
\nheading into reverse with Indonesia facing the possibility of a
\nlost generation lacking in health, nutrition, schooling and other
\nrights.\" He cited the increase of women dying in labor from
\n22,000 last year to 35,000 this year; the increase of under-fives
\nsuffering from malnutrition from 8 million before the crisis to
\nthe present 12 million; and the increase of drop-outs from junior
\nhigh school from up to 3 million before the crisis to a present
\nestimate of 6 million.<\/p>\n
But he added the public and government were \"very responsive\"
\nto these challenges and had raised some of Unicef's proposals.<\/p>\n
One was the urgent improvement in access to education for
\nchildren in remote regions particularly in eastern Indonesia.<\/p>\n
It was in eastern Indonesian that illiteracy was the highest
\nand where school enrollment was the lowest, Woodhouse said.<\/p>\n
Other urgent measures included priorities being given to the
\neducation of girls, street children and working children.<\/p>\n
He said the vision of Education For All in the Unicef report
\nwas a call for reform or revolution in the field, in line with
\nthe United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.<\/p>\n
The vision included the appeal that the state played a main
\nrole in the reform of education. \"But where many children do not
\ngain education, governments should create conditions where non-
\ngovernment organizations, community groups, religious bodies and
\nprivate sector businesses can give their contribution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
To prevent \"a terrible waste\" of \"going to school and coming
\nout unprepared\" the report said, \"learning for life\" was urgent,
\nwhich required a democratic learning environment for better
\npreparation of children for the world of work and society.<\/p>\n
To overcome problems posed by rigid, conventional educational
\nsystems, Unicef urged Indonesia's curricula be adjusted to local
\nconditions, improvement of teachers' welfare, improvement of
\nteaching practices and removal of language constraints.<\/p>\n
\"Especially for eastern Indonesia I think there is a language
\nproblem,\" Woodhouse said. The Unicef report cited examples in
\ncountries where classes in local languages proved more effective
\namong children of minorities. (edt\/anr)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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