Govt to standardize preschool

JAKARTA: The Ministry of National Education is planning to standardize guidelines for preschool education in a bid to empower early childhood education nationwide.

The ministry's early childhood education director Gutama said last Friday that the program aimed at promoting the importance of the education for children under six years old.

"It is important to maximize human resource development through early education," Gutama said.

He said, however, the one-year-long program was facing a shortage of funds. "Due to the problem with funds, it'll be difficult to implement the program soon," he said.

According to official data, children under six years of age number 26 million. Seventy-three percent of them have no access to early childhood education due to various factors.

To promote the early childhood education program, the ministry, in cooperation with the Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation (YKAI) and Yayasan Mutiara Keluarga, held a three-day campaign last Friday, which included games for children, a seminar, and an education exhibition. --JP