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)