Education in Indonesia

From APEC HRDWG Wiki

Overview

Indonesia is located in the southern Pacific Rim, its law stipulates that every citizen has the right to education and that the government provides a national education system which is arranged by law and provides the foundation for one national education system to be universally implemented in a complete and totally integrated manner. Its education budget is 8.1% of the national budget.

The national education system under Law No. 2 of 1989 was written to provide a minimum level of education for every Indonesian citizen, so that every citizen regardless of background has the opportunity to obtain at least basic knowledge and ability, including the ability to read, write, and do arithmetic, as well as to use the Indonesian national language.

Law No. 2/1989 provides the foundation for one national education system, it emphasizes that the national education system be universally implemented in a complete and totally integrated manner. It states that national education will be carried out through two channels, that is, in-school education and out-of-school education.

The in-school education channel covers education carried out in school through learning-teaching activities that occur in the traditional manner in a staggered and sustainable ways.
The out-of-school education channel covers education carried out in any non-traditional environment that does not require participants to attend lessons in a formally constructed, purpose-built environment. The out-of-school learning and teaching activities do not necessarily need to be staggered, sustained or balanced. Family education is a part of the out-of-school education channel conducted within the family that provides religious faith, social and moral values, and specific life skills.

Basic education

Basic education is general education that lasts nine years, including six years in Primary School and three years in Lower Secondary School or an equivalent educational level. Basic education aims to provide assets in the form of abilities to learning participants so they may develop their lives and lifestyles as individual members of society, citizens and human beings, as well as to prepare them to attend secondary education.

The primary education curriculum contains 10 subjects, as follows:

Pancasila and citizenship education
Religious education
Indonesian language (including reading and writing)
Mathematics (including arithmetic)
Natural science (science and technology introduction);
Social sciences (including geography, national and general history)
Art (including drawing)
Physical and health education
English language and
Local content (a number of assorted subjects).

Secondary education

General secondary education is undertaken in general secondary schools and Madrasah Aliyah (Islamic secondary schools). The objectives of general secondary education are to:

Increase the knowledge of students so that they may progress to higher education levels and to develop themselves in line with advances of knowledge, technology and art, and
Increase the ability of students to become contributing members of society, through developing useful mutual relationships with their social, cultural and natural surroundings.

The general program consists of the following subject matters: Pancasila and Citizenship Education; Religious Education; Indonesian Language and Literature; Physical and Health Education; and National and General History.

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