Indonesian human development far below ideal level<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Amid the success story of economic development,
\nhuman development in Indonesia is still far below the ideal
\nlevel, chairman of the Central Bureau of Statistics Sugito said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
After opening a seminar on human development, Sugito said that
\nhuman development in Indonesia is quite slow because the country
\nfocuses its development more on economic growth, stability and
\nequitable wealth distribution.<\/p>\n
"It is difficult for any country to really develop if it
\nneglects human development," Sugito said. "We should now pursue
\nhuman development more rather than economic growth."<\/p>\n
Sugito said it is time to pursue human development because it
\nis mandated by the state guidelines produced by the People's
\nConsultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
"I see the right direction set in our second long-term
\ndevelopment program (to end in 2019). It gives more priority to
\nhuman and technology development," Sugito said.<\/p>\n
According to the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP)
\n1995 human development report, Indonesia ranks 104th among 174
\ncountries surveyed in terms of human development achievements.<\/p>\n
"We should keep it in mind that the UNDP measure, known as
\nHuman Development Index (HDI), is something new, and there are
\nstill wide debates on it," Sugito said. "And we are not satisfied
\nwith the methodology developed by the UNDP to measure it."<\/p>\n
With its human development report, the UNDP is trying to
\nintroduce a new paradigm to measure the performance of a
\ncountry's development.<\/p>\n
It claims that the new measure covers more than just economic
\ngrowth, basic needs, social welfare and human resources
\ndevelopment. It also covers aspects on enlarging people's
\nchoices.<\/p>\n
It has three main indicators to estimate its HDI, comprising
\nlife expectancy and health, knowledge and skills as well as
\nopportunity to implement knowledge and skills.<\/p>\n
Since the HDI was introduced in 1990, indicators to measure
\nhuman development have been extended to include human freedom and
\ngender empowerment measures.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Central Bureau for Statistics is developing an
\nIndonesian version of HDI to measure the country's human
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
Like the UNDP's, Indonesia's HDI also has three indicators --
\nlife expectancy, adult literacy rate and average years of
\nschooling. It also measures purchasing power parity. It does not
\ninclude human freedom or gender empowerment indexes in its HDI
\ncalculation.<\/p>\n
With its preliminary efforts to formulate Indonesia's HDI, the
\nCentral Bureau of Statistics revealed that human development in
\nthe country is still below par.<\/p>\n
According to 1993 data, the HDI for Indonesia's 27 provinces
\naveraged below 60 from the ideal figure of 100. Of the 27
\nprovinces, Jakarta ranked first with the highest HDI of 57,
\nfollowed by Riau, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and North
\nSulawesi with 52 each. East Timor's HDI was the lowest with 36.<\/p>\n
"Such relatively low HDI for the whole country is closely
\nrelated to the low level of the purchasing power parity index in
\nmost provinces," the statistics bureau said in its initial HDI
\nreport.<\/p>\n
The highest purchasing power parity index was recorded in
\nJakarta at 14.8, far from the ideal number of 100. Other
\nprovinces which recorded a purchasing power parity index of over
\n14 included West Sumatra, Riau, Yogyakarta, Bali, South
\nKalimantan, East Kalimantan as well as South Sulawesi, while
\nSoutheast Sulawesi's was the lowest at 4.1.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's schooling index was also relatively low, with only
\nJakarta reaching a schooling length index of over 50.<\/p>\n
The life expectancy and literacy indexes were relatively high.<\/p>\n
Life expectancy indexes in most provinces exceeded 60. Jakarta
\nand Yogyakarta, for example, had life expectancy indexes of about
\n70.<\/p>\n
The literacy index was the highest among the other indicators
\nwith a number of provinces recording over 90 in literacy indexes.
\nThey included North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South
\nSumatra, Bengkulu, Lampung, Jakarta, South Kalimantan, East
\nKalimantan, North Sulawesi and Maluku. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesian-human-development-far-below-ideal-level-1447893297",
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