Shoes as a Mirror of Education's Irony

In the midst of the flurry of government-promoted education aid programmes and Sekolah Rakyat, the public is struck by a painful irony.

On one hand, the state budgets tens of billions of rupiah for the procurement of shoes for students and teachers.

On the other hand, a vocational high school student in Samarinda is reportedly said to have died after months of wearing ill-fitting shoes because his family could not afford to buy new ones.

That tragedy is not merely a sad tale of poverty. It is a cracked mirror of how the state understands education: preoccupied with symbolism, but often slow to address the most basic human needs.

Data circulating indicates the budget for procuring shoes for Sekolah Rakyat students reaches Rp 27.5 billion for around 39,345 students.

Meanwhile, the procurement of shoes for teachers is Rp 5.5 billion for 3,979 teachers.

On paper, the programme looks noble. The state is present, ensuring that pupils from poor families have proper schooling equipment.

But social reality is not as simple as the figures in the budget documents.

At roughly the same time, Mandala Rizky Saputra, a student at SMKN 4 Samarinda, was reported to be suffering from wearing a size 40 shoe, while his feet measure 43–44.

Of course, it is too early to conclude that shoes alone caused the death.

Yet the public has read into it something bigger than a medical cause: there is a systemic insensitivity that forces poor children to endure hardship in order to stay in school and to practise.

And there lies the issue.

For years, education in Indonesia has often fallen into a culture of formality. Uniform must be neat. Shoes must be black. Accessories must be complete.

But the state often forgets to ask: can children meet those standards without harming themselves?

For middle-class families, buying new shoes may be a simple matter.