Sixty years after independence, Indonesia is still struggling to
\nprovide primary and secondary educations for its school-age
\nchildren, lagging far behind other neighboring countries such as
\nThailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.<\/p>\n
According to Ministry of Education figures from 2004, the
\nnumber of elementary school dropouts reached 650,000, and more
\nthan 500,000 others did not continue on to secondary education.
\nAt the intermediate level, the number of junior and senior high
\nschool dropouts reached 150,000.<\/p>\n
In the same year, Indonesia's came 111th in the human
\ndevelopment index (HDI), just a step above Vietnam, but far below
\nthe Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. The number of illiterate
\nreached 15.5 million, while almost 70 percent of the 90 million
\nworkforce were elementary school graduates and dropouts.<\/p>\n
The poor condition of primary and intermediate education in
\nIndonesian has contributed to the poor quality and low
\nproductivity of the country's workers in general. This is
\nindicated by the large numbers of uneducated and unskilled
\nworkers going overseas and the poor competitiveness of Indonesian
\nuniversity graduates on the domestic and global labor markets.<\/p>\n
What is wrong with our education program? Why can't the people
\nobtain good educations and why do so many children have to
\ndropout of school? What should we do to ensure that all school-
\nage children enjoy good primary and intermediate education?
\nThe answers to all these questions bear a close correlation with
\nthe limited financial capabilities of most parents in paying for
\ngood educations for their children, financial constraints faced
\nby the cash-strapped government and the absence of a credible
\nlong-term education development program.<\/p>\n
All parents are aware of the importance of education and they
\ndo want their children to have a good future, but financial
\nproblems deny them access to good education as shown by the
\ndropout rate.<\/p>\n
A recent survey on underprivileged families conducted by the
\nInternational Labor Organization (ILO) revealed that one in seven
\nschool-age children in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Jakarta and
\nWest Java did not attend school because of financial constraints.
\nAn elementary school student has to pay more than Rp 374,000
\n(US$38) annually in fees, while a junior high school student will
\nneed at least three times that amount. Most families in the lower
\nincome brackets are not able to simultaneously send two or three
\nchildren to elementary or junior high school.<\/p>\n
The country's lingering economic difficulties, exacerbated by
\ntwo fuel price hikes this year, have significantly increased the
\nnumber of those categorized as poor to more than 38 million at
\npresent from 25 million in 1997. With gross monthly incomes of
\nbetween Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million, the majority of people
\nworking in the agricultural and industrial sectors already have
\ndifficulties in satisfying their daily needs, making it more
\ndifficult for them to finance their children's education. The
\nproblem has been worsened by the numerous levies imposed on
\nchildren by bureaucrats and schools. In fact, as things stand at
\nthe moment, only children from the middle classes can afford a
\nreasonable education.<\/p>\n
In both rural and urban areas, most students from lower-income
\n-bracket families have to help their parents earn money, thus
\nleading to many of them not having enough time to devote to their
\nbooks.<\/p>\n
Critics say that the root of the problem is the lack of
\npolitical commitment on the part of the government in investing
\nin the education sector despite an amendment to the Constitution
\nthat stipulates that the government is obliged to allocate 20 percent of the
\nstate budget on the education sector, and the issuance of Law No.
\n20\/2003 on education, which provides that the government must pay
\nfor the compulsory nine-year education program so as to make it
\naccessible to all.<\/p>\n
The 2006 education budget stands at Rp 34 trillion, a 12
\npercent increase compared to 2005, but nevertheless only
\nrepresents 1.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). By
\ncomparison, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore allocate between
\nfive percent and eight percent of their GDPs on the education
\nsector.<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's recent apology to the
\npublic for the government's inability to comply with the
\nconstitutional imperative is in reality of little help.<\/p>\n
Like in developed countries, education and health in Indonesia
\nshould be free as it forms part of the services the government
\nmust provide to the public based on the taxes the people have
\npaid to the state.<\/p>\n
The government's measures to liberalize the education sector
\nand decentralize its powers will only move the problem to the
\nregions. Besides the limited financial resources of the local
\ngovernments, they also appear to have little interest in boosting
\nthe sector.<\/p>\n
A draft law that aims to push schools to make more money will
\nonly worsen the situation as learning institutions will be
\nmanaged more like corporations and thus pay less attention to
\neducational goals.<\/p>\n
A plausible solution is to manifest a political commitment to
\ncomplying with the Constitution's target of allocating 20 percent
\nof the state budget to the education sector. If the government
\ncomplied with this imperative, the 2006 education budget would
\nhave been at least Rp 115 trillion, a sufficient sum to provide
\nfree basic education for all, develop infrastructure and improve
\nthe working conditions of teaching and administrative staff.<\/p>\n
Regarding the poor skills of teachers, a recent survey
\nconducted by the Education Ministry revealed that almost 50
\npercent of the total 2.6 million teachers nationwide do not
\npossess the required teaching skills and failed the tests prior
\nto the implementation of the 2004 competence-based education
\ncurriculum.<\/p>\n
According to the survey, most respondents said they opted for
\na career in teaching as a last choice as they had failed to get
\nadmitted to other, more preferred courses at university. Many
\nteachers are unable to improve their skills as they also have to
\nseek side jobs to compensate for their low incomes.
\n To cope with this problem, teaching must be made an attractive
\nprofession to enable the government and schools to recruit
\nprofessional teachers.
\nThe bill on teachers and lecturers that was recently endorsed by
\nthe House of Representatives will likely give rise to a serious
\nproblem as it only covers staff teaching in state schools and
\nuniversities. Many private schools and universities cannot
\nproduce quality graduates because they cannot pay their teaching
\nstaff adequately.<\/p>\n
Regular changes to government education policy and curricula
\n(a new minister often changes the policy of his predecessor),
\nhave also contributed to the state of our education as shown by
\nthe poor results achieved by students in the 2005 national exams.<\/p>\n
Over the last two decades, the education curriculum has
\nchanged twice. After the 1994 curriculum that placed emphasis on
\nstudent comprehension, a new competence-based curriculum emerged
\nin 2004, encouraging students to be more active intellectually.
\nBut the fundamental problem of the low quality of school leavers
\nhas remained, while more and more parents can no longer afford a
\ngood education for their children due to financial constraints.<\/p>\n
In order to overcome the fundamental problems afflicting our
\neducation system, the government has to show its political
\ncommitment to allocating 20 percent of the annual state budget to
\neducation, and should view this as a long-term investment the
\nresults of which will only be harvested in the next 20 or 30
\nyears, when, hopefully, the nation will have a skilled and
\nversatile workforce and the sort of technocrats needed to enable
\nit to catch up with neighboring countries.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sixty-years-after-independence-indonesia-is-still-struggling-to-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}