Indonesian dropouts highest in Southeast Asia
Indonesian dropouts highest in Southeast Asia
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The grim picture of education in Indonesia has been confirmed by
the latest United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) report, which revealed that elementary
school dropouts account for 7 percent of the country's 26 million
children, the highest among Southeast Asian member states.
UNESCO's education statistics 2003 report saw Indonesia ranked
behind Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia
in the percentage of children -- aged between seven years and 12
years old -- enrolled in elementary school.
The report, published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics, said
Indonesia fared better than fellow densely populated Asian
countries Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan, China and India. Indonesia
is home to 215 million people, according to the latest national
census.
Most of the earlier leavers quit elementary school when they
were in their fifth year, with Indonesia second in the list with
95 percent after Iran (98 percent). Vietnam was third with 86
percent, followed by Bangladesh (65 percent) and Cambodia (63
percent).
"The net enrollment ratios in elementary education from 1990
to 2000 also decreased in China, Indonesia, Iran and the
Philippines," the report said.
Indonesian children were among 46 million children in South
and East Asia who were out of school, with more girls (28
million) than boys (18 million) kept from elementary education.
The number of children who complete elementary school does not
necessarily reflect the number of students admitted to the
secondary schools, the report said.
The 88-page report revealed an estimated 233 million students
in South and East Asia enrolled in secondary school, only an
average of 50 percent of those eligible to attend secondary
school.
The report, which was made available to The Jakarta Post,
claimed that Indonesia's participation ratio in secondary
education reached 55 percent in 2000 although it had risen by 10
percent from 45 percent in 1990.
It said that the number of students enrolled in secondary
school in Indonesia remained below Malaysia, China, Iran, Vietnam
and Thailand, which reached between 80 percent and 100 percent.
Indonesia's ratio was better than India, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia
and Bangladesh. which was between 27 percent and 37 percent.
UNESCO noted higher participation of private institutions in
managing elementary schools in Asia, with 43 percent of
elementary schools in Indonesia privately run, India 42 percent,
the Philippines 23 percent and Bangladesh 96 percent.
"In both regions (South and East Asia) fewer girls are
enrolled than boys in secondary education," the report said.
The report provided profiles of 22 countries in South and East
Asia, although some information about North Korea and newly
established Timor Leste was unavailable.