1 in 5 school-aged children out of school: ILO survey
Ridwan Max Sijabat The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
A new survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO) has revealed that 19 percent of Indonesia's school-aged children could not afford to attend school, the main factor contributing to the high number of child laborers in the country.
The study, conducted jointly with a leading market research company, Taylor Nelson Soffres (TNS), took place from January to March 2005, and involved over 1,200 households across five provinces: West and East Java, North Sumatra, East Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.
The respondents were all from poor households with children of elementary and junior high school age.
ILO chief technical adviser Patrick Quinn, who presented the survey's findings here on Monday, said the average cost of keeping one child in elementary school and another in junior high school for one year, including transportation and uniform expenses, could reach more than two months gross salary for family wage-earners -- measured by the level of the provincial minimum wage.
He said that 71 percent of the respondents, whose children had dropped out of school or never entered, cited the high cost of education as the main factor.
"Only 50 percent of the respondents know about the government's policy for all children to complete at least nine years of schooling, up to age 15, and 39 percent thought it was just six years (for the completion of elementary education)," he said.
Quinn, however, said that despite the cost factor, the respondents overwhelmingly supported the idea of education, and most households whose children were out of school -- either in the labor force or helping at home -- were not strongly committed to this behavior.
"This implies that if cost issues could be addressed, then educational participation would increase," he added.
When asked about the number of hours that might be acceptable for a child below 15 to work, 64 percent of the respondents cited between three hours and four hours a day, but 34 percent said up to six hours or more per day was acceptable.
The findings are important because other research suggests that when children work longer hours (more than three hours) per day, their attendance at school decreases.
Quinn also said that while the vast majority agreed that children below 18 should not be allowed to work in illicit sectors, such a prostitution and drugs, the number of respondents was much smaller when it came to labor sectors regarded by the law as hazardous.
"Only 16 percent said children should not be allowed to work with chemical substances, 23 percent said children should not be allowed to work in off-shore fishing, and only 27 percent said children should not be involved in heavy lifting work."
The survey, which was conducted to mark the World Day Against Child Labor, was aimed at finding out the problem and highlighting the global movement to eliminate child labor, especially in its worst forms.
The ILO revealed that as of March 2005, Indonesia had at least 1.5 million child laborers, but Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris said recently that the figure had soared to some three million.
According to the ILO survey, an immediate decision and education policy was urgently required to reduce the direct and indirect costs of education for poor families, saying that if this was done, the number of school dropouts could be reduced.
Quinn said the education campaign should also be intensified to ensure that people know about the government's policy of nine- year compulsory basic education.
"The fact that almost 40 percent think that only six years education is required, suggests that in many areas the message of nine-year basic education is not getting across to the public," he said.
He said the ILO would use the findings to help design its awareness-raising programs in provinces, where the world labor organization has been working with the government and other partners in efforts to support the National Action Plan on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.