One in five children not in school: Survey

One in five children not in school: Survey

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A new survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO) has
revealed that 19 percent of Indonesia's school-aged children
could not afford to attend school, the main factor contributing
to the high number of child laborers in the country.

The study, conducted jointly with a leading market research
company, Taylor Nelson Soffres (TNS), took place from January to
March 2005, and involved over 1,200 households across five
provinces: West and East Java, North Sumatra, East Kalimantan and
South Sulawesi.

The respondents were all from poor households with children of
elementary and junior high school age.

ILO chief technical adviser Patrick Quinn, who presented the
survey's findings here on Monday, said the average cost of
keeping one child in elementary school and another in junior high
school for one year, including transportation and uniform
expenses, could reach more than two months gross salary for
family wage-earners -- measured by the level of the provincial
minimum wage.

He said that 71 percent of the respondents, whose children had
dropped out of school or never entered, cited the high cost of
education as the main factor.

"Only 50 percent of the respondents know about the
government's policy for all children to complete at least nine
years of schooling, up to age 15, and 39 percent thought it was
just six years (for the completion of elementary education)," he
said.

Quinn, however, said that despite the cost factor, the
respondents overwhelmingly supported the idea of education, and
most households whose children were out of school -- either in
the labor force or helping at home -- were not strongly committed
to this behavior.

"This implies that if cost issues could be addressed, then
educational participation would increase," he added.

When asked about the number of hours that might be acceptable
for a child below 15 to work, 64 percent of the respondents cited
between three hours and four hours a day, but 34 percent said up
to six hours or more per day was acceptable.

The findings are important because other research suggests
that when children work longer hours (more than three hours) per
day, their attendance at school decreases.

Quinn also said that while the vast majority agreed that
children below 18 should not be allowed to work in illicit
sectors such as prostitution and drugs, the number of respondents
was much smaller when it came to labor sectors regarded by the
law as hazardous.

"Only 16 percent said children should not be allowed to work
with chemical substances, 23 percent said children should not be
allowed to work in off-shore fishing, and only 27 percent said
children should not be involved in heavy lifting work."

The survey, which was conducted to mark the World Day Against
Child Labor, was aimed at finding out the problem and
highlighting the global movement to eliminate child labor,
especially in its worst forms.

The ILO revealed that as of March 2005, Indonesia had at least
1.5 million child laborers, but Minister of Manpower and
Transmigration Fahmi Idris said recently that the figure had
soared to some three million.

According to the ILO survey, an immediate decision and
education policy was urgently required to reduce the direct and
indirect costs of education for poor families, saying that if
this was done, the number of school dropouts could be reduced.

Quinn said the education campaign should also be intensified
to ensure that people know about the government's policy of nine-
year compulsory basic education.

"The fact that almost 40 percent think that only six years
education is required, suggests that in many areas the message of
nine-year basic education is not getting across to the public,"
he said.

He said the ILO would use the findings to help design its
awareness-raising programs in provinces, where the world labor
organization has been working with the government and other
partners in efforts to support the National Action Plan on the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.