Expanded compulsory education begins

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto launched yesterday the new compulsory education program whose success depends on the participation of private schools in providing the facilities and parents in encouraging their children to go to school.

The program calls for all children between seven and 15 years old to attend school for nine years, comprising six years of primary education and three years of intermediate education.

The scheme is an extension of the highly successful six-year compulsory education that was launched exactly 10 years ago with 94 percent of all children between seven and 12 years old attending school.

Officials admitted that the government was ill prepared for the expanded compulsory education program, citing the statistic that some six million children between 13 and 15 years of age could not be accommodated at present because of shortages in seats at the country's junior high schools.

This fact was widely acknowledged in the speeches by President Soeharto and Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro yesterday during the launching of the new scheme at the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center which coincided with the National Education Day.

Both men called for a national movement to ensure its success.

"The general public, but especially parents, must share in this task," Soeharto said in a speech broadcast nationwide. "Through mutual help and with the greatest sense of responsibility, let's carry out this noble and huge task together."

An even bigger challenge for the government is changing people's attitudes, especially those living in rural areas where many parents still shun school and prefer to send their children to work in farms to help supplement their incomes.

The universal education program also waives school fees at both government and privately run junior high schools although in practice the schools' administrators could still charge the better off parents.

15-year deadline

Wardiman said the government has set itself a 15-year deadline to meet its target but stressed that with the help of the private education institutions in providing the school buildings and other facilities, this goal could be achieved within 10 years.

Soeharto explained the expanded compulsory education scheme was part of the current national endeavor to strengthen the manpower resources of Indonesia.

Official statistics show that some 76 percent of the present total workforce have only a primary education background.

The scheme is also good for the flourishing democracy in the country, he said. "The higher education background will strengthen people's awareness of their rights and duties as citizens. This means strengthening the political awareness of the people and improve the quality of our democracy."

During the ceremony yesterday, the President signed a plaque marking the start of the nine-year compulsory education program.

He also held a satellite interview with officials and school children in Banda Aceh (capital of Aceh), Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi) and Jayapura (Irian Jaya) to discuss about the problems and challenges in implementing the scheme.

Officials in these three provinces said that administratively they were prepared to carry out their task but much depends on their ability to build enough new schools and provide books.

Soeharto said the problem could be overcome by introducing two shifts for each available school buildings.

Irian Jaya Governor Jacob Pattipi said the major cities in his province are ready but there were problems in remote hinterland villages.

South Sulawesi Governor Z.B. Palaguna raised the perennial problem of the low teachers' salaries as one of the major drawbacks in implementing the nine-year compulsory school.

Soeharto responded that the government was doing all it could to raise the teachers' salaries.

A member of House of Representative, Sukowaluyo, told reporters after the ceremony that the issue of salary was important if the nation expects to have a good education system.

"At least it must be increased twice from what they earned today. The bright people are shunning the teachers' profession because of the low salaries," Sukowaluyo said.

Wardiman said some provinces were better prepared than others in implementing the new program.

The education facilities in Yogyakarta, for example, could already accommodated up to 85 percent of all junior-high school age children and therefore it should take less than 10 years to meet the goal, he said. (01)

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