INDONESIA COUNTRY SITUATION REVIEW ON WOMEN AND GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND GENDER EQUALITY IN BASIC EDUCATION By Redya Betty Doloksaribu Assistant Director for Women Education, Directorate of Community Education
A. Background Information Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world and is situated between two continents, Asia and Australia and between two oceans, the Pacific and the Indian oceans. About 6,000 of the 13,667 islands and islets are inhabited by the population of 210 million of which 50.7% are female. Although the government does not have any regulations to discriminate women in education, employment and politics, there is a significant difference in the number of women compared to men in many positions in government, private organizations and in politics. The education system in Indonesia consists of the formal, non-formal and informal systems. Basic education is conducted through the formal system: 6 years Primary School and 3 years Junior Secondary School, and the non-formal system: Package A and Package B. Package A is similar to primary education and Package B is similar to Junior Secondary School. The non-formal system is for school age children who cannot go to formal school and also for adults who did not go to school.
To promote the importance of basic schooling for the children, in 1984 the 6 years compulsory education was introduced. After 10 years of implementation, in 1994 the government of Indonesia increased the compulsory education to nine years basic 'compulsory education. It was planned that in 2003/2004 the target of compulsory education will be reached to be ready for the AFTA free market in 2003 and APEC free trade era in 2010. But due to the economic crisis, the target cannot be reached and is extended to 2008/2009. The development of national education was carried out on the basis of four main strategies: (1) expansion and equalization of educational opportunities, (2) improvement of education quality, (3) improvement of education relevancy to the development needs, and (4) efficiency in educational management. At the initial stage of the second long-term development plan, starting in 1994/1995, emphasis was given to human resources development in all sectors and sub-sectors of the national development. Therefore the development of national education cannot be separated from elements that can affect development, such as (1) the importance of value added orientation, (2) changes in the social structure, and (3)- effect of the globalization process. Based on that, emphasis should be given to the teaching of and the use of science and technology in education.
B. Women and Girls' Education Since the nine years basic compulsory education was introduced in 1994, all efforts were focused to increase participation rate and improve quality of primary and junior secondary education. Data of the Ministry of National Education shows that in the mid 1980's a large gender gap still existed at primary and junior secondary schools which in the 1990's narrowed to only 1%-2%. Girls performed better once enrolled in primary school resulting in higher progression rates. Data of 1999 shows that 25.6% and 28.2% boys and girls in
urban areas finished primary school, while in the rural areas the percentage of girls who finished primary education is 34.8% compared to 37.7% boys. Both in urban and rural areas the percentage of girls not sent to school and not finishing primary school is higher than boys. At the junior secondary school, the percentage of girls who graduated is lower than the percentage of boys. It is similar in urban as well as in rural areas. This may be due to the traditional belief that girls do not need to pursue high education because they are going to become housewives and have to take .care of the children. Some problems encountered are: 1. The budget allocated by the government for education is still very low. The impact is that in many cases the parents have to pay for the facilities needed and operational cost. 2. The economic crisis made it difficult for the parents to pay for their children's education. This has caused a larger percentage of dropouts and more school-age children not going to school. 3. Geographic and demographic condition make it difficult for equality and quality of education. 4. Community participation is not yet organized for the development of education and to promote education for all. 5. There are not enough teachers with the necessary qualifications. 6. There are not enough educational facilities, especially in the rural areas.
Strategies to overcome the problems are among others: 1. Schools are encouraged to implement community based management in the attempt to empower the community to. take responsibility in the management of the school. 2. Socialize and provide orientation for preschool, primary school and junior secondary school teachers about gender awareness. 3. To encourage the establishment of Community Learning Centres (CLQ especially in the rural areas. 4. The government facilitates the implementation of Package A and Package B for dropouts and illiterate adults, especially for women. Besides the academic program, participants are also given training in employable and salable skills.
C. Gender Analysis Gender analysis was carried out for the development program of Education by the National Development Planning Agency assisted by the Women's Support Project II - CIDA. Four main programs were the focus of analysis, Basic Education and Preschool Program, Secondary Education Program, Higher Education Program, and Out of School Education Development Program. The analysis tool used was Gender Analysis Pathway (GAP) developed by the National, Development Planning Agency. This study was specifically looking into three issues of gender inequity, that are (1) access to all types and levels of education, (2) quality and efficiency in education, and (3) selection of study programs at higher education. Gender inequity is affected by four basic factors, which are (1) access, (2)
participation, (3) control, and (4) benefit. Several gender problems in education development need to be given further attention and actions taken to overcome those problems. The identified problems are: 1. Gender inequity is very obvious at Vocational Secondary Schools and higher education and is caused by the social values of the Indonesian people. 2. School books that are gender bias are found for language and social studies. 3. The low participation rate of girls will cause the teaching learning process not efficient. Girls tend to have a higher retention rate than boys. 4. The gender inequity has become institutionalised because of very few women have decision-making position. 5. Gender segregation still exists in the selection of study programs at higher education and causes gender discrimination in the work place. Based on the results of the gender analysis, there is a need to reformulate education policy to become gender responsive. D. National Policy and Programs In the year 2000, the President of Indonesia issued a Presidential Instruction (Inpres no 9/2000) on Gender Mainstreaming in National Development. Its Implementation Guidelines was issued in 2001 by the State Ministry of Women's Empowerment. With the guidelines, the Ministry of National Education started to socialize gender mainstreaming to all officials within the Ministry. Several workshops were held to insert gender mainstreaming in existing programs and in planning of new programs.
In the National Education Program 2000 (Propenas 2000) was mentioned that reformulation of education policy to become gender responsive has to be done, as follows: 1. Expansion and equalization of education opportunities 2. Upgrade academic competencies and professionalism of teachers and improve their prosperity 3. Improve the education system, including diversification of curriculum to meet the different needs of students 4. Empower all educational institutions so that values, attitude and competencies become their institutional culture 5. Improve the education system based on decentralization principle, autonomy of science and management 6. Improve the quality of public and private educational institutions 7. Develop the quality of human resources through various activities conducted by all components of the nation To implement the policies several development programs for the education sector were established: (1) Preschool and Basic Education program, (2) Secondary Education program, (3) Higher Education program, (4) Out of School Education program, (5) Synchronization and Coordination of Education Development Programs, (6) Research and Capacity Building program, (7) Development of Resources for Science and Technology program, and (8) Improvement of Independence and Excellence in Science and Technology.
E. Preparation of the National EFA Plan A National Team on Education for All (EFA) was established and the Director General, of Out of School Education and Youth was appointed as the national coordinator of EFA. At the end of August 2001 they held a national consultative meeting to discuss the National Action Plan on Education for All. The results were going to be used in all sub-sectors of Education, such as basic education, secondary education, vocational education, higher education, and out of school education. They agreed to prioritise and design educational services for the people living in remote areas, low income, street children, boat people, the disabled and nomads. The strategies of the Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education are as follows: 1. Improve the delivery quality of primary education through SEQIP and World Bank and ADB projects. 2. Rehabilitate primary school buildings 3. Improve open junior secondary schools (SLTP Terbuka) by distance education through conventional technology 4. Improve life skills education at all school levels
5. Develop school based management by involving the community in education quality improvement. To reach the children that could not be enrolled in schools, the Directorate General.of Out
of School Education and Youth has the strategy; 1. To provide educational opportunities at an early age- for children not yet in kindergarten, playgroups etc. 2. Increase access to education through the Mobile Library and Community Library in each district and village 3. Optimize Madrasah and Community Learning Centers (CLC) and develop contract schools for isolated areas, conflict areas, plantations, and suburban areas. 4. Improve quality and relevance of junior secondary schools by adding skill training 5. Improve educational efficiency
F. National Level Coordination Coordination of Education for All is within the Ministry of National Education and with other Ministries such as Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ministry of Internal Affairs. At school level, coordination is among schools, pondok pesantren, Non Government Organizations, and Community Learning Centres. The coordination for gender mainstreaming is by the State Ministry of Women's Empowerment. The ministry of National Education is presently initiating the establishment of a Consortium for Women Education (Konsorsium Pendidikan Perempuan Indonesia = KoPPI) to become the partner of government to propose strategies and developments in the implementation of EFA and to increase women participation in education.
G. International Cooperation Several international organizations have contributed in the socialization of gender mainstreaming and gender analysis, such as UNFPA and UNICEF. UNICEF had participated in the development of the National Action Plan for EFA. Indonesia is presently preparing to get assistance from ADB or any other donor agency for gender mainstreaming. H. Conclusion The gender equality in basic education is being pursued in the Education for All (EFA) program and is still in progress. Delays in action was because of the economic crisis in 1997 which is not yet recovered. With the commitment of the government to provide a larger portion of the national state budget for education and to reach all school age children in the basic compulsory education program, there is hope that gender equality will also be reached in the formal education sector. In the out of school education, functional literacy education programs, especially for women, will be delivered through the Community Learning Centers (CLQ). References EFA Working Group. 2001. Education for All National Action Plan 2001-2015. National Consultative Meeting, 29 August- 1 September 2001 (in Bahasa Indonesia). Ministry of Education and Culture. 1994. The Development of Education System in Indonesia. A Country Report. Ministry of National Education. 2001. Universal Basic Education: The Roles of Distance Education and Policy Implications. Presented at the E9-Ministerial Review Meeting in Beijing, 21 - 23 August 2001.
National Planning Agency (Bappenas) and WSP II-CIDA. 2001. Gender Analysis in Educational Development (in Bahasa Indonesia). State Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Women Support Project II/CIDA. 2001. Gender Mainstreaming, a Strategy in Development (in Bahasa Indonesia). State Ministry of Women's Empowerment. 2001. Gender Analysis in Education Development (in Bahasa Indonesia). Jakarta. State Ministry of Women's Empowerment. 2001. Implementation Guidelines for Inpres No 9/2000 on Gender Mainstreaming in National Development in Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta.