Asia-South Pacific Education Watch

Indonesia: Summary ReportIndonesia Monitoring Research

About Asia South PacificEducation Watch Initiative

The critical state and ailing condition of education in manycountries in Asia-South Pacific region compels serious and urgentattention from all education stakeholders.

Centuries of neglect, underinvestment in education, corrup-tion, and inefficiency by successive governments in the countriesof the region have left a grim toll in poor education performancemarked by low school attendance and survival rates, high dropoutand illiteracy rates, and substandard education quality.

Moreover, there are glaring disparities in access to educationand learning opportunities: hundreds of millions of impover-ished and disadvantaged groups which include out-of-school chil-dren and youth, child workers, children in conflict areas, women,ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, dalit caste and othersocially discriminated sectors, remain largely unreached and ex-cluded by the education system.

Hence they are denied their fundamental human right to edu-cation and hindered from availing of the empowering and trans-formative tool of quality, life-long learning that could haveequipped them to realize their full human potential, uplift theirliving conditions, and participate meaningfully in governance andin decisions that affect their lives.

At Midway: Failing Grade in EFAIn the year 2000, governments and the international commu-

nity affirmed their commitment to quality Education for All(EFA) and Millenium Develoment Goals (MDGs). Midway totarget year 2015, government assessments of EFA progress re-veal that education gaps and disparities persist, and educationconditions may even be worsening as indicated by shortfalls andreversals in EFA achievement.

The landmark year 2007 therefore presents a timely opportu-nity for civil society networks to engage governments in address-ing the unmet EFA goals and MDG education targets, especiallyfor disadvantaged groups.

Real World StrategiesSpurred by the challenge of pushing for accelerated progress

towards EFA, the Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Educa-tion (ASPBAE) and the Global Campaign for Education (GCE)launched the Real World Strategies (RWS) programme to under-take realistic and practical initiatives based on the actual condi-tions, experiences, and aspirations of people in communities.

(Continued on inside back cover)

2007

Indonesia: Summary Report

Indonesia Monitoring Research

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ISBN 81-278-0024-4Indonesia: Summary ReportIndonesia Monitoring Research

© 2007, Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE)

The Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education(ASPBAE) is a regional association of organisations and individualsworking towards promoting quality education for all andtransformative and liberating, life-long adult education andlearning. It strives to forge and sustain an Asia-Pacific movementdedicated to mobilizing and supporting community and people’sorganizations, national education coalitions, teachers unions,campaign networks, and other civil society groups and institutionsin holding governments and the international donor communityaccountable in meeting education targets and commitments,ensuring the right of all to education, and upholding education asan empowering tool for combating poverty and all forms ofexclusion and discrimination, pursuing sustainable development,enabling active and meaningful participation in governance, andbuilding a culture of peace and international understanding.

ASPBAE publications form an integral part of ASPBAE’sinformation, education, and advocacy activities and efforts, andseek to support sharing and learning among educationstakeholders, advocates, practitioners, analysts, and policy-makers.The reader is therefore encouraged to use the material containedherein for reproduction, adaptation, and translation worldwide foruse in nonprofit education and information activities andpublications, with due acknowledgement to ASPBAE, and toprovide feedback that could help in further improving thesepublications.

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Contents

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A. Indonesia and Education

B. The Education Watch Initiative

C. Research Scope and Methodology

D. Main Findings

1. Household and Informant Profiles2. Education Participation3. Access to Education4. Public Knowledge of Quality Education5. Literacy6. Education Cost7. Perceptions on Education8. Parents’ Participation in Education Governance

and Learning at Home

E. Analysis and implications of the research findingsfor civil society advocacy agenda

1.Advocacy to Stop Privatization of Education Policies2.Advocacy for 20% of National Budget Allocation

for Education3. Advocacy for a second chance at education for women,

marginalised groups, minority groups, groups in difficultsituations such as in conflict areas and indigenous peoples

4.Advocacy for the Government to Acknowledgeand Provide Funding for Community-organised EducationInitiatives

5. Advocacy for the Participation of Parentsin Education Governance

6.Literacy Programme Advocacy7. Advocacy for Policies that Support the

Gender Dimensions of a Rights-based Education

15

Indonesia

Monit

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esearch

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Executive Editorial Board:

Maria Lourdes Almazan Khan

Secretary General, ASPBAE

Bernard Lovegrove

Programme Manager, ASPBAE

Raquel Castillo

Asia Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator,

Real World Strategies for Education for All,

ASPBAE/GCE

Policy Group:

Rene Raya, Lead Policy Analyst

Darmiyanti Muchtar, South East Asia Policy

Analyst

Aruna Anand, South Asia Policy Analyst

Grant Harrison, South Pacific Policy Analyst

National Coordinator, Indonesia

Darmiyanti Muchtar

Education Network of Justice Indonesia

(E-Net for Justice)

Publications Group:

Sylvia de Guzman, Writer

Luz Rimban, Editor

Michael Garcia, Layout Artist

Federico ‘Boy’ Dominguez,

Cover Designer/Illustrator

The Indonesia EdWatch Team

Editors:

Yanti Muchtar, Lily Pulu , Mohammad Firdaus

Writers:

Yanti Muchtar (Indonesia’s Edwatch Coordinator),

Iva Hasanah, Lili Pulu, Muhammad Firdaus,

Nugraheni Pancaningtyas, Fitriani Sunarto, Eny

Setyaningsih, Syamsul Bahri, Siti Dahniar, Fredy

Eko Prasetyo, Fitriani Sunarto, Septiva Herlin

Artati, Yekti Wahyuni, and Diyah Wara Restiati

Researchers:

National Team:

Yanti Muchtar, National Coordinator

Iva Sasmita, Sekretaris Tim Nasional

Lily Pulu, Bendahara Tim Nasional

Muhammad Firdaus, Nugraheni Pancaningtyas

Fitriani Sunarto, Eny Setyaningsih

Syamsul Bahri;, Tabrani Yunis

Research team for the District

of Serdang Bedagai, North Sumatra:

Siti Dahniar, Syamsul Bahri, Budi Agustono

Fredy Eko Prasetyo, Wana Sasmila,

Siti Zahara Nst, Herti Rahayu Hia, Rina Lingga,

Erwin Paulus Berasa

Research team for the City of Bogor

West Java:

Eny Setyaningsih, Septiva Erlin, Yekti Wahyuni,

Diah Wara Restiati, Fitriani Sunarto

Research team from the District

of Pasuruan, East Java:

Iva Sasmita, Endang Liestiyani, Nur Indah

Muhammad Fahmi, Sukemi G Ismani,

Ahmad Yusron Rizal, Nadhomah Alfiyah

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Executive Editorial Board:Maria Lourdes Almazan KhanSecretary General, ASPBAE

Bernard LovegroveProgramme Manager, ASPBAE

Raquel CastilloAsia Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator,Real World Strategies for Education for All, ASPBAE/GCE

Policy Group:Rene Raya, Lead Policy AnalystDarmiyanti Muchtar, South East Asia Policy AnalystAruna Anand, South Asia Policy AnalystGrant Harrison, South Pacific Policy Analyst

National Coordinator, IndonesiaDarmiyanti MuchtarEducation Network for Justice Indonesia (E-Net for Justice)

Publications Group:Sylvia de Guzman, WriterLuz Rimban, EditorMichael Garcia, Layout ArtistFederico ‘Boy’ Dominguez, Cover Designer/Illustrator

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Indonesia: Summary Report

Indonesia Monitoring Research

Indonesia and Education

Indonesia is a long way from its 2015 Education for All targets.Although net enrollment rate (NER) in the primary level increasedto 94.37% in 2006, the junior secondary net enrolment rateremains at 66.52%.[1] Dropout rate at the primary school increasedfrom 2.66% in 2001 to 3.17% in 2006.[2] Furthermore, there are still13.6 million illiterates, two thirds of them women and, of theilliterate aged 15 years and over, approximately 84.5% have never

been to school [3] These education indicators merit urgent attention.

The urgent policy actions will require accurate and uniformgovernment data that reflects the real situation. Data given by onegovernment agency is usually different from another. For instance, thedropout rate reported by the Department of National Education isdifferent from the dropout rate issued by the Bureau of Statistics. Thishas influenced education policies that are issued by the government.

The Education Watch InitiativeThe absence of uniform data also affects the advocacy work of civil

society groups fighting for people’s rights to education. But civilsociety itself has no other alternative when it comes to this quantitativedata; their monitoring and advocacy work are based on governmentstatistics. Therefore, quantitative research and its results, which will bethe basis of a campaign for better education policies in the future, areimportant and useful.

For this purpose, E-net for Justice Indonesia has implemented anEducation Watch Initiative. E-net for Justice Indonesia is a nationaleducation coalition consisting of 41 organisations in almost allprovinces of the country. The initiative aims to strengthen civil society’scapacity for research, to obtain reliable quantitative and qualitativedata, as well as to develop a civil society-based education watchmovement in Indonesia.

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The Education Watch Initiative in Indonesia is a project of theGlobal Campaign on Education (GCE) with the Asian South PacificBureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE) as the coordinator for the Asia-South Pacific region. ASPBAE worked with E-net for Justice Indonesiafrom April 2006 up to December 2007 to implement the EducationWatch Initiative.

Research Scope and MethodologyThis research focused on the situation in six villages in Serdang

Bedagai District (North Sumatra), Pasuruan District (East Java) andBogor City (West Java). The study makes no claims that its researchfindings reflect the overall situation at the national scale. Rather, theobjective is to highlight the education gaps and problems particularlyamong disadvantaged groups.

The research scope itself covers seven educational variables, whichare:

1. Education participation2. Access to education3. Public knowledge of the quality of education4. Literacy5. Cost of education6. Parental perception on education7. Parental participation in education governance and children’s

learning at home.

Ed-Watch surveyorinterviewing a

young mother inKenduruan village,one of two surveyed

villages in theDistrict of

Pasuruan, EastJava, Indonesia.

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The research process utilised four data collection methods: surveyof literature, a household survey, in-depth interviews and directobservations in the surveyed communities. The research was aparticipatory process which involved all researchers at the national anddistrict levels in formulating the research design, the research tools,data collection, data analysis and report writing. The national team wascomposed of nine researchers. Local research teams composed of fiveresearchers each were formed for the three districts covered by thestudy.

The research locations were selected purposively. First, threeprovinces with different levels of literacy were selected based onofficial government data. These are East Java, representing highilliteracy rate and agricultural rural areas; West Java, representingmedium illiteracy rate and urban areas, and North Sumatra,representing low illiteracy rate and coastal areas.

Then, from each province, one district with a medium illiteracy ratewas chosen and from each of those chosen districts, one sub-districtwith a medium illiteracy rate was chosen. Finally, out of these sub-districts, two villages or kelurahan[4] were then chosen as the locationsof the household survey, for a total of six locations for the educationmonitoring census.

The survey interviewed 6,241 households or 97.05% of the totalhouseholds in the kelurahans which consisted of 23,589 informantswho provided the data for this research. Only 2.95% of householdswere not covered for various reasons such as illness, unwillingness tobe interviewed and house being vacant. For the literacy test, thenumber of individuals tested was 8,244 or 35% of the total number ofinformants. The remaining 65% were not tested because they (1) hadcompleted junior high school, (2) were ill or (3) were under 10 yearsold.

Besides the household survey, three case studies were done toenrich the survey findings. These are:

a case study on early marriage in one village in Pasuruan in EastJava;a case study on street children in one kelurahan in Bogor inWest Java, anda case study on child workers in two villages in Serdang Bedageiin North Sumatra.

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Main Findings

1. Household and Informant ProfilesApproximately 78.67% of the surveyed households in all of the six

villages were categorised as living under the poverty line, which meantthey spent less than US $1 per day (See Table 1). The extent ofimpoverishment of these households is further revealed by the datathat shows that 1.3% of the informants were child workers, and 28.66%were married before they reached the age of 18. (See Figures 1 and 2).Of those informants who married young, 3.58% were below the age of12 and 32.50% were between the ages of 12 and 15 when theymarried. A large majority, 77.77%, of those who married under 18 were

Table 1. Poverty Level bySurveyed Village/Kelurahan

2007

Source: Data generatedfrom the Education

Monitoring Research,E-Net for Justice,

2006-2007

Source: Data generatedfrom the Education

Monitoring Research, E-Netfor Justice, 2006-2007

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Source: Datagenerated from theEducationMonitoringResearch, E-Net forJustice, 2006-2007

girls. This data shows that poverty has forced children, who aresupposed to enjoy their time playing and studying in school, to workand marry before they are legally allowed to do so at 18 years old formen and 16 years old for women.

This problem is likely to continue because, according to the data,there were 41.57% of informants who were illiterate and had marriedyoung, and most of them came from households where the head of thefamily was also illiterate. The implication is that the cycle of povertywill become more and more difficult to break if no serious efforts aretaken to overcome this problem.

2. Education ParticipationThe first important finding is the participation in formal, non-formal

and informal education. The research finding shows that 21.22% of theinformants were attending formal school, 0.93% were under school ageand 77.85% were out of formal school (See Figure 3).

Of those who were out of school, 44.29% did not complete theirnine years basic education or had dropped out and (See Figure 4). The

biggest concentration of out-of- school youth was inPasuruan, East Java, andamong women at 52.54%. Thedropout rates generated bythe local survey in theseparticular kelurahans, aremuch higher than the nationaldata, which is only 7%. Theresearch also found that

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one family member who had dropped out of school. Of thesehouseholds, 43.50% had one member who dropped out, 39.36% hadtwo, and 10.99% had three. These findings are consistent with theprofile of the surveyed households showing that a significant numberof them were child workers or had married at an early age.Furthermore, those who did not go to school, or have dropped out orhave completed only elementary school level, came mostly from poorfamilies as defined by the $1-a-day expenditure level.

In terms of gender equity, the research revealed that while theparticipation of females in formal education at the elementary levelwas higher than males, their participation decreased starting withjunior high school. That means that the higher the level of formaleducation, the lower the number of female students.

As for non-formal education[5], 17.6% of the informants said theytook part in some non-formal education organised in their community.Eighty-two percent joined Madrasah Diniyah[6], 15.53% attended lifeskill programmes, 1.04% had taken additional courses, and 0.77%participated in early childhood education. Most of those who took partin the religious and life skill education came from poor families.

Data shows that 18.50% of the informants took part in some formof informal education.[7] Most of these informants participated in

Participatory learningprocess at a street-basedlearning center for street

children in the City of Bogor,West Java, Indonesia.

10.93% of the informants have never gone toschool.

The extent of the dropout problem can begleaned from the data showing that abouthalf of the surveyed households have at least

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community- based Majlis Taklim[8], which is dominant in two villages inPasuruan district.

This research made an interesting discovery on dual participation informal and non-formal education in the survey areas. Almost half or47.38% of the informants were found to be attending both formal andnon-formal education simultaneously. Majority of them or 82.82% wereat the elementary school level, and of this number, a little more thantwo-thirds studied both at the formal elementary school and atMadrasah Diniyah. They attended formal elementary school in themorning from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Madrasah Diniyah in the afternoonfrom 2 to 6 p.m. What this means is that children in dual classes wereforced to spend more than 10 hours in school every day. Most ofthem, 62.99%, live in Pasuruan.

3. Access to EducationThe second important finding has to do with the public’s access to

education. Most of the informants (81.8%) said that information oneducation was accessible. But interestingly, the dominant sources ofinformation were neighbors and friends, indicating that theinformation is disseminated by the community itself. The role of thegovernment as a source of information is not visible in this research.The data also shows that almost half or 48% of households sent theirchildren to elementary schools, and 52% sent their children to juniorhigh schools, outside of the village. The main reason for this is thatmost informants were unable to pay the education costs of schoolsnear their homes. Other informants replied it was because there wereno formal schools located near their homes. This situation is likely tolead to increased school dropout rates.

4. Public Knowledge of Quality EducationAnother important finding is related to public knowledge of the

quality of formal, non-formal or informal education. This public’spronouncements on the quality of education might closely describerealities on the ground but it will also be subjective because it is drawnfrom the informant’s daily experiences of education, and not from anynational standards of quality education.

Between 82% and 85% of the informants said the number ofteachers and the quality of facilities and infrastructure of schools theirfamily members attend were sufficient. However, the informants may

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not have enough information on the requirements needed to meetcertain standards of quality education. Though many responded thatthe quality of schools were sufficient, it was also observed thatteachers were often absent from school. Moreover, teachers often usea one-way method in which the teacher explains while the studentslisten or just take notes. Interestingly, in both rural and urban areas,Bahasa Indonesia was used as the language of instruction, along withlocal languages. This bilingual method of teaching should receiveserious attention because various researches have indicated thatchildren learn easily if the subject is delivered in their mother tongue.

5. LiteracyThe fourth important finding is related to the level of illiteracy. The

research found that 12.8% of the informants were illiterate, 3.9% werebasic literate[9], 14.0% were functional literate[10], and 69.2% wereadvanced literate[11] (See Table 2). The findings on illiteracy levels inthis research are higher compared to the national data which places

Table 2. LiteracyLevel of the

Informants Crossedby Surveyed

Provinces, 2007

Source: Datagenerated from the

EducationMonitoring Research,

E-Net for Justice,2006-2007

the illiteracy rate at only 8.8%. The illiterates wereconcentrated among poor families and were morelikely to live in families headed also by an illiterate (SeeFigure 5).

In terms of gender, the study shows the percentage

Source: Datagenerated from the

EducationMonitoring Research,

E-Net for Justice,2006-2007

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Indonesia or other local languages (See Table3). The usage of different testing tools wasaimed at detecting the extent to which peopleused scripts and languages other than Latin

Source: Data results fromthe Education MonitoringResearch, E-Net forJustice, 2006-2007

of illiterate women, 59.5%, significantly higherthan men, 40.5%. While there were morewomen than men who were literate at thebasic and functional levels, men still edgedout the women in the advance literatecategory (See Figure 6).

Another interesting finding is that there

A literacy test conductedby an Indonesian Ed-Watch interviewer in

Wonokerto village, one oftwo surveyed villages in

the District of Pasuruan,East Java

were approximately 6.2% of the informants who preferred to be testedusing tools that combined Pegon Arabic[12] or Latin scripts with Bahasa

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1 01 01 01 01 0

informants is the fact that they did not receive an education in formalschools. This is the result of families being unable to pay for schoolfees, children becoming child-workers, a shortage of schools in theneighborhood, and children dropping out of school. The most commonresult of illiteracy is that informants have difficulty in dealing withofficial transactions with the government bureaucracy.

6. Education CostThe study revealed that education costs paid by respondent families

covered four types of expenses:

a) monthly routine costs such as tuition fees and practical fees,b) education-related unexpected costs including application forms

and building maintenance costs,c) non-educational related-unexpected costs such as transportation

costs, allowances, andd) special “hidden” costs such as presents for teachers and informal

donations for admission to school.

The study showed that all of the respondent households spent forthe education of family members. A comparison of the spending levelon education showed that the poor tend to spend less compared tothe non-poor households (See Table 4). Nevertheless, the amountspent on education is still substantial and takes up a large share of themeager resources of poor families.

Source: Data results fromthe Education MonitoringResearch, E-Net forJustice, 2006-2007

Table 3. Number of TestedInformants by testing Tooland Province, 2007

and Bahasa Indonesia in their daily lives. Thetesting tools also enabled the researchers torecognise those informants who wereconsidered illiterate by the government butwho used scripts and languages other than theLatin or Bahasa scripts.

The main cause of illiteracy among

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Expenditure on education constitutesnearly 25% of total household expenditures(See Table 5). Apart from education,households also spent on nine other majorexpenditure items: meals, transportation,cigarette, groceries, house rent, credit

Table 4. Education CostsCrossed by Total HouseholdExpenditure, 2007Source: results from theEducation MonitoringResearch Indonesia, E-NetFor Justice, 2006-2007.

Table 5. Monthly AverageHousehold Expenditure

Source: Data generatedfrom the EducationMonitoring Research, E-Net For Justice, Indonesia,2006-2007

repayment, allowance, family member living outside of the householdand domestic worker salary.

7. Perceptions on EducationThe study uncovered Indonesian parents’

perceptions of education. The findings showthat most parents perceived education as ameans to gain employment while othersconsidered it a way of enhancing andpracticing religious devotion. This isparticularly strong in two villages in Pasuruan district, which are well-known bases of Islamic boarding schools in East Java.

Another important finding was that most parents still considerededucation unimportant for girls since it is the men who will becomethe main breadwinners anyway. About one-third of respondent-parents

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1212121212

in East Java wanted their daughters to finish only elementary school(See Table 6). This was mostly true among families whose heads hadcompleted elementary schooling only. This indicates that education forgirls is given less priority than education for boys.

Perceptions appeared to be strongly influenced by the opinion thateducated children increase the family’s dignity and prepare them forfuture employment. There were also some who considered men tobecome the main breadwinners. Meanwhile, in terms of theresponsibility of funding education, 60.9% consider it the government’s

responsibility and the remaining 39.1%considered it to be a collective or communityresponsibility. This reflects the community’sdesire for free and equal education, especiallyfor those living under the poverty line.

8. Parents’ Participation in EducationGovernance and Learning at Home

Table 6. Parent’sexpectations on theHighest Level ofEducation that should beachieved by girls and boyscrossed by surveyedprovince, 2007

Source: Data results fromthe Education MonitoringResearch, E-Net forJustice, 2006-2007

The research shows that 64.4% of parents visited their children’sschools twice a year (See Figure 7). Parents visit them for variousreasons, including:

To collect their children’s report cards (35.1%),To file applications for their children to study at the school(25.5%),To attend a school activity planning meeting (12.3%),To drop off their children at school (9.1%) andTo attend the school’s accountability meeting (7.8%).

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1 31 31 31 31 3

governance at the school level is low. Their participation is limited tomeetings about schooling costs (See Figure 8)

At the same time, few parents help their children with lessons athome. Data shows that 71% of surveyed parents have never assistedtheir children with their studies at home. Interestingly, 27.2% of thoseparents who help their children study everyday are mostly women,either in rural or urban areas. This contradicts findings in otherresearches saying that women with a low level of education are lesslikely to be involved in their children’s study at home.

Analysis and Implications of the Research Findingsfor Civil Society Advocacy Agenda

The findings in this research in six villages or kelurahans in thePasuruan district, Bogor City and the Serdang Bedagai district shouldprompt the Indonesian government to come up with urgent policyactions if it wants to reach the EFA targets in 2015. Civil society shouldthen engage government around a set of policy advocacy agendabased on the evidences offered by the results of the EdWatch initiative.

Advocacy to stop privatisation of education policiesThe results of the study depict a bleak state of education in

Indonesia. And yet government has chosen to privatise education,releasing itself from its obligations of providing quality education forfree, as stated in the National Education System Regulations. As a

Source: results from theEducation MonitoringResearch, E-Net forJustice, 2006-2007

This finding applies to all family headsregardless of family size, household expenses,sex, age, education level and literacy level ofthe family head. It indicates that theparticipation of parents in education

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Child Workerscalled “Anak

Bebek” or “DuckChildren” inKuala Lama

Village, one oftwo surveyed

villages incoastal area inthe District of

SerdangBedagai, North

Sumatra,Indonesia.

result, the State has largely given up to the market and thesociety its primary public service responsibility bydecreasing its role in financing education. Thisprivatisation of education is legitimised by the EducationLaw No. 20/2003 and the Government’s Decision No. 76and 77 on Foreign Investments, allowing foreigners toinvest in education in Indonesia through private schooling,and the Draft of Education Legal Entity Law. At thecommunity level, the consequence of the privatisation ofeducation is that 100% of surveyed households are facedwith education costs which range from IDR 50,000 (US$5.56) to more than IDR 1,000,000 (US $111.11) every timethey enroll their children in school. The amounts are

significant from the point of view of a parent who earns less than a $1a day.

The research has found that privatisation of education has led to anincrease in the number of dropouts and illiteracy among poorcommunities. This is of course contradictory to Article 31, Clause 2 inthe amended 1945 Constitution which states that “every citizen isobliged to receive a basic education and the government is obliged tofund the process.” This is also asserted in Clause 4.

Moreover, the policies on privatisation contradict the Law onHuman Rights No. 39/1999 and International Covenants on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights that guarantee each citizen the right to aneducation. At the international level, the policies contradict theobjectives of Education For All (EFA) and the Millennium Development

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Goals (MDGs), ensuring full citizens’ access to a complete basiceducation by 2015. Therefore it is important that civil societyseriously advocates the efforts that oppose the privatisation ofeducation policies in Indonesia.

Advocacy for 20% of national budget allocationfor education

The small amount in the State Development and ExpenditureBudget for education, which is still below 20% of the national budget,is one of the reasons that education in Indonesia is still way belowexpectations.

Indonesia has the dubious distinction of being one of thecountries in the Southeast Asia region that allocates too little of itsbudget to education as compared to the budget allocated to payingoff international debts. As highlighted in the report “The MillenniumDevelopment Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2006”, Indonesiaallocated a mere 1.1 % of its GDP in 2002, the lowest among 25countries in the Asia Pacific region. Thus the MDG’s progress report

has negatively assessed Indonesia in both theprogress index and in the latest status index.

In this context, advocacy should be aimed atasking for an increase in the allocation of the Statebudget at a minimum target of 20%, outside ofsalaries, so that the quantity and quality of educationin Indonesia can improve annually.

Advocacy for a second chance at education forwomen, marginalised groups, minority groups,groups in difficult situations such as in conflict areasand indigenous peoples.

The research findings show that women andmarginalised groups such as child workers and thosewho have married young experience difficulties inaccessing education. A consequence of this is anincreasing number of illiterate children and womenas well as children dropping out of school,particularly among the marginalised and poorcommunities.

In this context, it becomes important to developeducation policies that provide a second chance to

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Participatorylearning process

in Rumah KITA, acommunity-based

learning centerfor street children,

City of Bogor,West Java,Indonesia.

those who have dropped out of school or who have never beenschooled. The curriculum and methodology of alternative education isimportant in this context because where formal education fails to meetthe requirements of marginalised groups, alternative education shouldbe adjusted to meet their special circumstances. This advocacy agendashould be promoted in order to uphold the people’s right to education.

Advocacy for the Government to acknowledge and providefunding for education that is initiated and organised by thecommunity

The research data shows that in both urban and rural areas there isa tendency for parents to put their children into formal and non-formaleducation at the same time. This is because they want their children toreceive a religious education in the Madrasahs, such as MadrasahDiniyah which do not have high education costs, or are sometimes freeof charge. Therefore the government should acknowledge and fundnon-formal education that is initiated and developed by thecommunity without interfering in the development of the curriculumand teaching methodologies that will improve education quality. Infact, Madrasah Diniyah is a form of education that gives a secondchance to those who drop out of school or who have never received aneducation.

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Advocacy for the participation of parentsin education governance

The government has limited society’sparticipation in education governance tobodies such as school committees oreducation boards. However, parentalparticipation even in such mandated bodiesis still low. Therefore it is not surprising thathouseholds are charged education costs in thethree regions surveyed in this study, but arenot consulted as evidenced by theirquestioning of the practice. Concerns havealso been raised over special “hidden” costssuch as being pressured to give the teacherspresents and make informal donations to theschool. Finally, it is important that there isadvocacy to strengthen parental involvement

in education governance in order to push for transparency andaccountability.

Literacy programme advocacyThe results of the study very clearly show that illiteracy rates in some

local areas are much higher than government figures and are obscuredby national aggregated government data. Urgent actions are called forbecause trends predict increases in the illiteracy rate as more childrendrop out in the early school grades (first to third grade). An example isthe drop out rate for elementary and Madrasah Ibtidaiyah schools whichcan reach 200,000 to 300,000 children per year.[13]

The first action that should be taken by the government inresponding to this disturbing trend is to increase the budget forliteracy programmes to at least 3% of the education budget, in linewith the targets being advocated by the Global Campaign on Education(GCE) and Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE).Currently, the funds available for the Functional Literacy programmeare less than 1% of the total education budget.

The government must also develop a literacy programme modeland produce materials suited to the character and situation of learners.This teaching programme should be made sustainable and specific toeach region. The current literacy education programme developed bythe government is homogenous and designed and implemented top-

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down. The government should improve the facilities and skills of thefacilitators in the literacy programme, increase teachers’ salaries andbuild capacity in a sustainable manner. It would be more beneficial ifthe government and non-government organisations undertake periodicmonitoring of the literacy education programme so that evaluationsand improvements can be done quickly. If necessary, the State shouldprovide funds to civil society organisations that have shown trackrecords in effective literacy programmes.

Advocacy for policies that support the gender dimensionof and rights-based education

Women, who have higher illiteracy rates than men, should be madea priority. Data from the Education Network research reveal that 59.5%of women are illiterate. Meanwhile, the government data from theBureau of Statistics state that the total population of illiterate peopleover the age of 10 is 15 million, of whom 67.9% are women comparedto only 32.1% men.[14]

Moreover, the findings of this research indicate that the highnumber of early marriages especially in Pasuruan should be of concernbecause early marriage is a source of dropout and illiteracy.

Early marriage is justified by the Marital Law No. 1/1974, whichstates that the legal age limit for women to marry is 16 years old.However despite this age limit, many girls are married younger.Therefore it is urgent for the legal age limit in this law to be amendedto an age over 18 years in order to uphold protection of children’srights.

Unwritten policies held by some schools that forbid girls who aremarried and pregnant to continue their studies should be reviewedbecause they pose barriers to a second chance for the girls to return toschool.

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Endnotes

[1] National Social Economic Census, Central Statistic Bureau, 2006.

[2] School System Statistic, Ministry of National Education, 2006.

[3] Tempo Interaktif, 25 May 2007.

[4] Kelurahan is part of a district in a city. The scale, status, and position ofkelurahan is same as a village in rural areas.

[5] Definition of non-formal education used by this research is the definitionused by the Department of National Education. It is an education paththat can be taken structurally and in stages. The non-formal educationincludes the lifeskill education, early childhood education, youtheducation, women empowerment education, literacy education, skill andwork training, equality education as well as other education that is aimedto develop the capacity of the participants.

[6] Madrasah Diniyah is a non-formal type of education children take part in.The focus of its education is the grounds of Islam such as reading andwriting of the Arabic language used in the Al-Quran, fiqh, etc. In EastJava this kind of school is called as Madin.

[7] Informal education defined in this research is education organised by thecommunity, which covers religious teaching, community-based training,mass-media education and other informal education.

[8] Majlis taklim is an Islamic study group whose members are usuallywomen.

[9] Basic literate means able to read, write, comprehending daily simplewords and sentences, count, and perform addition and subtraction for 1digit.

[10] Functional literate means able to read, write, comprehending one or twoparagraphs, count, and perform basic addition, subtraction, multiplicationand division for 1 digit.

[11] Advanced literate means able to read, write (copy and re-write),comprehending short story, count and perform basic addition,substraction, multiplication and division for 2 digits.

[12] Pegon Arabic script is Arabic letters without vowels. These letters arecommonly used in Malay and Javanese Pesantrens (boarding Islamicschools).

[13] National Literacy Action Plan, 2005-2009, 2005.

[14] National Social Economic Census, Central Statistic Bureau, 2003.

RWS found the need for pursuing a vigorous, evidence-basedpolicy advocacy to build shared understanding and rally civil societyorganizations (CSOs) around common goals, establish credibility withopinion-framers and decision-makers, marshal evidence as part ofa systematic strategy to influence policy, and supply missing data onexcluded and unreached sectors. Campaign calls and messages neededto be supported by credible evidence, based on the real state ofeducation in communities.

Asia-South Pacific Education Watch Initiative and PublicationsThese publications are the result of education watch processes

initiated and pursued since 2006 by the RWS programme of ASPBAEand GCE, in partnership with national education coalitions fromIndia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Indone-sia, Cambodia, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.

Building on the successful Education Watch model implementedby CAMPE in Bangladesh, the Asia-South Pacific Education Watch(EdWatch) was designed and coordinated by the RWS Steering Com-mittee composed of ASPBAE, Education International, andGlobalMarch Against Child Labor, and the RWS Asia Pacific staff.

EdWatch has emerged as an independent, citizen-based moni-toring mechanism for assessing the status of education at the re-gional, national, and local levels, providing well-founded bases foradvocacy and education campaign work and strengthening CSOcapacities for policy engagement in education. It is designed to trackgovernments’ progress in achieving quality education for all, withfocus on addressing the education deficit for disadvantaged sectors.

Challenge to Civil SocietyThe daunting education situation in the region poses a chal-

lenge to CSOs to sound a clear wake-up call to governments to shakeoff their complacency, go beyond rhetoric, summon the politicalwill, and redouble efforts. There is a crying need to assess existingeducation programmes, allocate more funds and resources for edu-cation, and institute targeted measures to address education disad-vantage.

Since Dakar 2000, CSO participation in EFA processes has seenthe progressive growth in strength and maturity of national educa-tion coalitions, and their developing capacity to conduct researchand policy analysis and advocacy. Armed with their EdWatch find-ings, CSOs and education stakeholders can put together more co-herent education policy agenda for lobbying, disseminate informa-tion to enhance public awareness of education issues, effectivelyengage governments in education planning and policy-making, andstrongly assert and sharpen CSO and stakeholders’ participation ineducation governance at all levels.

– ASPBAE

(Continued from inside front cover)

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