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.