RI gets poor mark in education quality
RI gets poor mark in education quality
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A number of Indonesian students have stolen the limelight in
international scientific contests, but in general the country's
standard of public education has failed to match that of its
neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region.
The latest report released by the Asian South Pacific Bureau
of Adult Education and the Global Campaign for Education ranked
Indonesia 10th among the 14 assessed countries in Asia and the
Pacific, with an average score of 42 out of a possible 100, or an
E on its commitment to basic education.
Leading the list were Thailand and Malaysia, which both
received an A, followed by Sri Lanka with a B.
The Philippines, China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia and
India were marked between C and F for performing poorly in
ensuring access to free and equal, good quality basic education.
Indonesia only performed better than Nepal, Papua New Guinea,
Solomon Islands and Pakistan.
The report divided the countries into "class leaders" and
"poor performers", using indicators such as access to full basic
education, state action for free education, quality input, gender
equality and overall equity.
Indonesia received the lowest mark for state action concerning
its commitment to eliminating fees for basic education. This
indicator measures the prevalence of school fees, textbooks,
uniforms and other related expenses, based on a World Bank 2004
survey of 76 countries.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh top the list as they managed to scrap
most of the fees imposed on students.
A recent survey on poor families conducted by the
International Labor Organization (ILO) revealed that in
Indonesia, an elementary student would need Rp 374,225 (US$39)
annually to pay all the fees. A junior high school student would
need almost three times that amount.
The Indonesian government has estimated the annual cost of
educating an elementary student at Rp 235,000 and Rp 324,500 for
a junior high school student, which is built into the state
budget for free compulsory education, to be disbursed in the
coming academic year.
When it comes to provision of full basic education, which was
indicated by drop-out, illiteracy and early childhood education
rates, Indonesia scored C.
According to a 2003 national survey, 6.7 percent of 40 million
school-age children (seven to 15 years old) dropped out of
school, while 1.7 percent of the population had never attended
school. Some 67.6 percent of drop-outs said they quit school
because their parents could not afford to pay their school fees.
Indonesia received a good rating in access to basic education,
but saw a low quality input as indicated by a low teacher-student
ratio of 1:62 and an average of $21 per pupil the government
allocated annually.
In comparison, Malaysia's teacher-student ratio stood at 1:20
with an average of $390 allocated to fund a student's education
per year.
Indonesia performed better in gender equality and overall
equity in education, with a score of 76 and 67 respectively.
Education and gender activist Yanti Muchtar said, however, the
marks did not reflect the true condition as they were based on
incomplete data.
"There have been more girls quitting school than boys, plus
two thirds of those who are illiterate are women," she said.
Other activists said the grade given to Indonesia's basic
education development assessment was "too generous", while
government officials deemed it "too gloomy".
"Susilo must seriously tackle the issue of public education
which in fact is not free and is heading to privatization and
commercialization. He must work hard to translate into practice
the legal guarantee for free public education," Yanti said.(003)