RI may lose a generation: UNICEF
RI may lose a generation: UNICEF
JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
warned Indonesia on Monday over the possibility of it losing a
generation of children if the present government failed to
improve their health and education.
Stephen J. Woodhouse, UNICEF Representative for Indonesia and
Malaysia, rang the alarm bell during the release of The State of
The World's Children 2000 report, which states that without
immediate and concrete action Indonesia may be unable to compete
with other countries in the global market due to the inferior
quality of its human resources.
"If Indonesia wants well balanced competition, it has to
develop smart, skillful and productive human resources,"
Woodhouse said.
He said unhealthiness and malnutrition adversely affects
children's preparations for school and their performance in it.
"The school drop-out rate which remains high, especially in
the secondary level, and the poor academic achievement of
Indonesian students in general are certainly not things we expect
in building a new Indonesia," he said.
On the same occasion, the new Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare and Poverty Alleviation Basri Hasanuddin said in
a speech read by health minister Achmad Sujudi the unabated
economic crisis had caused school attendance rates in the country
to fall from 90 percent to 60 percent last year.
He also said the number of malnourished children rose from 30
percent to 35 percent over the same period.
Sujudi represented Basri, who is accompanying Vice President
Megawati Soekarnoputri on her trip to Maluku, Irian Jaya and
Sulawesi.
The Bureau of Statistics says there are currently 38.3 million
students in the country, ranging from elementary to high school.
Almost 25.7 million of them are elementary school students.
Woodhouse suggested the Indonesian government allocate more
funds in the health and education sectors, which he said are
crucial for the development of human resources.
Indonesia allocates only 8.5 percent of its current budget for
education and 4 percent for health, far below the between 21
percent and 26 percent set by its neighbors Thailand, Malaysia
and the Philippines for each of the sectors.
However, Woodhouse reminded those present any budget hike
would not bear fruits without efforts to improve the performance
of state employees who carry out the programs, and changes in
strategy and policies in the two sectors.
Basri admitted the possibility that Indonesian human resources
were below standard.
He said President Abdurrahman Wahid's government is seeking an
increase in the budget allocation for children's health and
education.
Basri said the government has pledged to restore children's
health and education to precrisis levels.
He said UNICEF had helped Indonesia increase school attendance
rates to 70 percent. (04)