Current Educational Priorities and Concerns

Despite enormous progress, particularly in the areas of primary school enrolment and illiteracy eradication, much remains to be done. Major challenges are identified as the expansion of compulsory basic education from six to nine years, the improvement of the quality of primary and secondary education, and enhancing learning achievements for all levels. Indonesia’s commitment to the further development of education is based on the recognition that development goes hand in hand with advancement in science and technology. The government is also making efforts in expanding educational opportunities at the basic, vocational, and professional levels through school and out-of-school channels.

The development of the labour force structure in the country is characterized by the continuous decrease of employment opportunities in the area of agriculture and an increasing demand for knowledge and skills in industry, especially in the high technology and service sectors. The use of modern technology in the production process requires workers with higher educational levels who will gradually replace the low-skilled ones. Work will increasingly depend upon intellectual capacities, creativity, the ability to process and utilize information, adaptability and self-training. The structural shift of the economy generates new trends and challenges which in turn affect the education system. The Ministry of Education and Culture (now the Ministry of National Education), therefore, needs to adapt education to the industrial needs of the community, as well as improve science and technology to reach competitive excellence. In addition, the massive and extensive globalization process affects economic, political and social conditions. Globalization is expected to generate intensified competition among nations, particularly in the fields of economics, science and technology.

The development of education has progressed rapidly since Indonesia’s independence. In 1930, less than 6% of the population was literate, while the Population Census of 1990 indicates that 84.1% of the population older than 10 years is literate. This shows the successful development of universal education and of primary education, in particular. More and more school age children and youth are going to school or attending out-of-school programmes. The number of students at every level of the school system has grown extremely fast within the last twenty-five years: the number of pupils and students more than doubled at the primary level; rose four and a half times at the junior secondary level, eight times at the senior secondary level, and about ten times at the higher education level. Education expansion programmes, which started in the 1970s, have increased the proportion of workers with higher education. However, the proportion of university graduates is still very low. According to the 1987 Survey of National Labour Force, the percentage of the labour force with low education (primary school and below) is 79.5%, which is too high for a society approaching the era of modernization in various aspects of life. The 1985 Education Sector Assessment Study points out that in half of the formal sector employment, two-thirds of the workers had attained only a primary school education. However, as the results of the latest Population Census show, the proportion of the labour force with higher education is showing the tendency to increase.

The country has successfully achieved the implementation of the universal education programme for pupils in the age group 7-12 years. The success is supported by the expansion and equity programme of educational opportunities at primary public schools, which was carried out on a large scale in 1973, through the Presidential Instruction Decree No. 10 of 1973. This programme has enabled the government to launch the compulsory primary education programme for pupils aged 7-12 years in 1984.

Indonesia has recently entered the Second Twenty-five-year Long-term Development Plan—PJP II (1994-95 to 2018-19) the emphasis of which is on the development of human resources to sustain the economic evolution of the nation. To respond to the challenges of modernity, the priorities of education for PJP II are the following:

the completion of the nine-year universal basic education programme, which involves adding three years of schooling for those students aged 12-15 years, i.e. at least six years of primary education and three years of lower secondary or equivalent education. The curriculum of the junior secondary school is also to be expanded with skills training, especially for students who are not able to continue their studies at the senior secondary level. Insofar as the resources available for implementation of universal basic education are limited, the role of the community and parents in providing basic education is important. Today, the basic education programme yields large numbers of primary school graduates, most of whom are 12 years of age. According to the Labour Law, they cannot yet be categorized as members of the productive work force. The implementation of the nine-year basic education programme will cover efforts in developing a learning environment at school and in classrooms; efforts in providing, appointing, training and developing teachers; and efforts in providing quality equipment and textbooks. It will entail about 34,000 additional teachers, namely: 8,000 primary school teachers; 20,000 junior secondary school teachers; 1,000 special education teachers; 2,000 teachers to support the private schools; and 3,000 secondary school teachers. It is still a large problem to produce teachers with adequate qualifications to teach at the primary and secondary levels;

improved quality and equity in educational opportunities for all types and levels of education. Efforts in educational quality involve adequate educational resources to support the education process, i.e. an adequate number and quality of teachers and other educational staff; adequate provision of textbooks and library books; adequate provision of operational and laboratory equipment; curriculum development and orientation towards science and technology, and provision of adequate infrastructure and facilities. Specifically, the improvement of teacher quality should be focused on primary school and Islamic primary school teachers to obtain a Diploma II (a two-year course). At least 80% of the lecturers should possess master’s or doctoral degrees. There should be a balanced proportion of students from the social sciences, education and humanities programmes compared to basic sciences, science and technology programmes;

the relevance of education to development. The policy formulates that education should be related to industry and the business world starting from planning, implementation, assessment, and certification of education and vocational training relevant to economic needs. The objective of the policy is to create a situation where graduates are responsive to the number, quality and dissemination needs for skilled manpower and expertise. It requires the expansion and improvement of technical and vocational education for the production of skilled and flexible human resources who master technology. The Link and Match Programme, which involves industry and commerce in vocational education, will continue to be developed and implemented through the dual system. To support the policy, 2,000 commercial and small industrial institutes have been contacted for co-operation and asked to provide training for students. The co-operation includes curriculum development and an examination system which measures the skills and expertise of the participant after completing a certain level. The dual system will also be applied to out-of-school education. It is hoped that the community will play a more active and direct role in the improvement of relevance and in the expansion of education towards the capacity to earn income. Co-operation between educational institutions and commerce in out-of-school education is expected. Several activities will be conducted to support the co-operation including: the appointment and training of community educational staff from various types and levels according to needs, provision of books and other educational infrastructure and facilities;

improved capacity to master science and technology through improved quality of higher education providing training and research, supported by improvement in mathematics and science instruction within the overall education system. Education should provide educated, skilled and trained manpower in accordance with the needs of the industrial society. Educational programmes, as preparation for employment, are provided through the junior secondary school with qualified educational content, vocational secondary education, professional higher education, courses for certain skills, and on-the-job training. The science and technology programmes can be categorized into three integrated levels: (a) science and technology for basic education directed towards general basic comprehension and aiming to implant and develop basic learning tools; this covers mastery in reading, arithmetic, problem solving, and moral education for the industrial society (discipline, time appreciation, working ethics, self-learning); (b) science and technology for secondary education aiming to master the basics of science and technology; and (c) science and technology for higher education with an emphasis on pure science, research and development of applied sciences;

the encouragement of research in higher education, the results of which are published through community media for the benefit of the community. Educational quality efforts are also carried out by creating a climate that is conducive to free academic life and discussion to ensure a dynamic scientific campus life. The university should become an independent institution, free from government subsidy and interference in management. Institutional improvement should also involve the accreditation system for public and private universities;

the development of a monitoring and evaluation system of educational quality that is valid, reliable and continuously comprehensive. Two types of monitoring systems need to be developed and disseminated for utilization: (a) an indicator system on educational quality that is based on ad hoc measurement towards educational quality indicators, with emphasis on input, process, output and educational impact; measurement of the indicators should be based on agreed concepts; and (b) a national examination system that can measure educational quality, especially students’ learning results. Both systems should regularly give input on status, variations and determining factors of high and low quality of education;

the efficiency in educational management, which is influenced by such factors as professionalism in the management of the education system, including discipline, loyalty, expertise, working ethics and cost effectiveness.