MPR: Efforts to Create Inclusive Campuses Must Be Realised Immediately

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Speaker of the MPR RI, Lestari Moerdijat, has said that efforts to create inclusive campuses must become a collective movement and be realised immediately, rather than remaining merely a matter of regulation.

According to her, the state must guarantee that every child of the nation can receive an education. To that end, the various obstacles to achieving inclusive education must be addressed promptly with concrete steps.

“Concrete steps are needed to overcome the existing obstacles so that every child of the nation, including persons with disabilities, can access quality education services,” Lestari said in a statement received in Jakarta on Monday.

Citing data from early 2025 by the Center for Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) at Nahdlatul Ulama University (UNU) Yogyakarta and the University of the West of England, she said only 90 universities, or 1.99 per cent of Indonesia’s 4,523 higher education institutions, officially admit students with disabilities.

Meanwhile, higher education institutions with disability service centres account for only 0.2 per cent of the total number of universities in Indonesia. She noted that only eight universities provide a dedicated admission platform for students with disabilities.

Consequently, Lestari assessed that access for the roughly 3,128 students with disabilities recorded in the Higher Education Database (PDDikti) as of June 2025 remains limited to just 282 campuses.

She said this figure is very small compared with the total number of persons with disabilities in Indonesia, which reaches 17.9 million people.

On the other hand, she also contended that regulation and funding alone are insufficient to realise inclusive higher education institutions.

“Understanding of the importance of an inclusive education ecosystem must be socialised massively, including the readiness of teaching staff with an inclusive perspective,” Lestari said.

To that end, she believes all parties need to align their direction and steps in developing the higher education ecosystem.

According to her, consolidation among universities is essential to produce an education system that is not only inclusive, but also adaptive and collaborative in responding to the challenges of the times.

“Input from stakeholders and society is needed to realise effective strategies in addressing these challenges,” she said.