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SPECIAL EDUCATION IN INDONESIA
By: Est i W unguThis paper w ould be described special educat ion in Indonesia. First of all, explanat ion will st art from count r y’ s background, secondly, educat ion syst em in Indonesia and last of all, special educat ion in Indonesia.
I. COUNTRY’S BACKGROUND
Indonesia is t he archipelagic count r y; it has mor e t han 15.000 islands. Indonesia's t err it or y ext ends along 3.977 mile bet w een t he Indian Ocean and t he Pacific Ocean. Indonesia inhabit ed by t he populat ion of 240 million. Populat ion in Indonesia not propor t ionally dist ribut ed. M or e t han half t he people live on Java Island, w here Jakart a, Indonesia’s capit al and largest cit y, is locat ed. Even t hough Indonesia is hom e for mor e t han 100 et hnic gr oups, most Indonesians ar e adher ent of Islam religion mixed w it h M elayu (M alay) cult ur e. The Nat ional language is Indon esian language, but t her e are 200 differ ent r egional languages. Indonesia t im e zone divided int o 3 differ ent ar eas, W est Indonesia Time, Cent ral Indonesia Time, and East Indonesia Time.
Indonesia declar ed t heir independency on August 17, 1945. The first Pr esident w as Sukarno, w ho also know n as t he f at her of t he count r y. Now, Indonesia is a Democrat ic count r y w hich is governed by a president ial syst em.
II. EDUCATION IN INDONESIA
2.1 Basic law of educat ion
1. Indonesian const it ut ion art icle 31
“ Any cit izen shall have t he right for educat ion and learning” 2. Law number 20 of 2003 on Nat ional Educat ion Syst em:
Art icle 5 (1) : Any cit izen has t he same right t o good educat ion 3. Law number 23 of 2002 on Child Prot ect ion art icle 48 and 49
2.2 Hist ory
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t hat t im e. Since 1990 compulsory educat ion includes element ar y school and t hr ee years of junior secondar y school. An addit ional t hree years of senior secondar y school are volunt ar y.
According t o M inist ry of Nat ional Educat ion (2004), in t he 2000 school year 28.7 million Indonesian children at t ended element ary schools: About 82 percent of girls and 97 per cent of boys reach t he f ourt h grade. Secondar y schools ar e at t ended by 58 percent of school-age girls and 58
According t o t he M inist ry of Nat ional Educat ion, t here w ere four level of educat ion in Indonesia: 1. Pre-School Educat ion
Pre-school educat ion is aimed at st im ulat ing physical and m ent al grow t h of pupils out side of t he family circle befor e ent ering primary educat ion. The obj ect i ve of pr e-school educat ion is t o provide an early basis for grow t h and development of at t it udes, know ledge, skills and init iat ive. Among t he t ypes of pre-school educat ion available are kindergart en and play groups. Kindergart ens ar e part of t he school based educat ion syst em w hile t he play groups are part of t he out -of-school syst em. Pre-school is pr ovided for children from 4 t o 6 years educat ion program aft er t he six year primary school program.
3. Secondary Educat ion
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ent er t he w orld of w ork and expanding t heir prof essional at t it ude. The lengt h of secondar y educat ion is t hr ee years for general secondary educat ion.
4. Higher Educat ion
Higher educat ion is an ext ension of secondar y educat ion consist ing of academic and professional educat ion, Academic educat ion is m ainly aimed at mast er ing science, t echnology, and research, w hereas pr of essional educat ion is more aimed at developing pract ical skills. Inst it ut ions involved in higher educat ion are of t he follow ing t ypes: academics, polyt echnics, school of higher learning, inst it ut es, and universit ies.
III.SPECIAL EDUCATION IN INDONESIA
(These parts based on report that w as presented in Japan, December 2006)
3.1 Basic law of special educat ion
1. Law number 20 of 2003 on Nat ional Educat ion Syst em
Art icle 5 (2) : Cit izen w it h physical, emot ional, ment al, int ellect ual, and / or social disabilit y shall have t he right t o special educat ion
Art icle 5 (3) : Cit izen in remot e ar ea shall have educat ion for special educat ion ser vices Art icle 5 (4) : Cit izen w ho has pot ent ial gift and special t alent shall have t he right f or
special educat ion 2. Law number 4 of 1997 about Disabilit ies
3. Bandung Declarat ion (2004) : Tow ard Inclusive Educat ion
4. Bukit Tinggi declarat ion (2005): Inclusion and Removal of Barriers t o Learning, Par t icipat ion, and Developm ent .
3.2 Special Educat ion Condit ion
From t he t ot al populat ion t her e ar e about 1.48 million people w ho cat egorized as disable of w hich 21.42% are school age children (5-18 years). How ever, only 25% or 79.061 children ar e enrolled in special school (Nat ional Census, 2003). All special school est ablished t o support complet ion 9 year compulsory educat ional syst em. According t o count r y r epor t in Educat ion (2004), t he num ber of special st udent s consist s of 45% hear ing impairm ent , 30% visual impairment , 13% mild int ellect ual disabilit y, 3% moderat e int ellect ual disabilit y, 3% moderat e physical disabilit y, 3% mult iple disabilit y, 2% behavioral difficult y, and 1% mild physical disabilit y.
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disabilit ies. Lat er, since t hen independence of Indonesia in 1945 ot her special schools f or children w it h ot her special need w er e est ablished. In t he year 2000 the gover nm ent developed special educat ion by expanding t he Sub-Di vision int o t he dir ect orat e of Special Educat ion, lat er in 2006 t he direct orat e changed int o t he Direct orat e for management of Special Educat ion. Ther e is one sub division f or administ rat ion and four sub direct orat es; t hey ar e (1) Sub direct orat e of progr am, (2) Sub direct orat e of School managem ent , (3) Sub direct orat e of curriculum, (4) Sub dir ect orat e of st udent developm ent . The vision of t he direct orat e is t o optimize t he educat ional services for all children w it h special needs so t hat t hey can be sust ainable in t heir life and t heir societ y. (Wardhani, 2006).
3.2 Educat ion syst em for special educat ion
Children w it h special needs have t he sam e educat ion syst em like non disabilit ies children. They could ent er kindergar t en, primar y, secondar y and higher educat ion level. Recent ly, som e schools provide facilit ies for preschool children w it h special needs.
Ther e are t w o t ypes’ school services for children w it h special needs: a. Special School: t hese schools only for st udent w it h special needs.
Type of special schools:
1. SLB-A : Special School for Visual Impairment 2. SLB-B : Special School for Hearing impairment 3. SLB-C : Special School for M ild Int ellect ual Disabilit y 4. SLB-C1: Special School for M oderat e Int ellect ual Disabilit y 5. SLB-D : Special School for Physical impairment
6. SLB-E : Special School for Emot ional Social Behavior Dif ficult ies 7. SLB-G : Special School for M ult iple Disabilit ies
8. SLB-M : Special School for Aut ist ic Children
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(Wardhani, 2006). The Direct orat e of Special Educat ion also made som e crit eria and select ion for t he school t hat could be an inclusive school for t he children w it h special needs. Unt il
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Accelerat ion program provides f or t he gift ed st udent , but som et imes st udent ’s select ion f or accelerat ion class based only from t heir IQ’ s score. So, it ’s import ant t o be car eful about psychological mat urat ion and developm ent in gift ed children. Some case show ed t hat st udent w it h ver y high scor e in IQ has immat ur e em ot ional developm ent , so she/ he failed t o handle emot ional or social problems in daily life. Government and school should have compr ehensive assessment t o develop t his program and aft er they run t he program, evaluat ion and monit or should be implem ent ing cont i nuously.
7. Compet ency based cur riculum
In t his concept , curriculum is w rit t en and developed by minimum compet ency based, w hich must be had by ever y st udent af t er he or she f inished one basic (unit ) compet ency, one unit of t ime and or one l evel of educat ion (M inist ry of Nat ional Educat ion, 2004). This curriculum emphasizes on t he basic compet ence, t he role of t he t eacher is on t he account abilit y, t hey have t o guide t he st udents learn about t he subject and t o solve probl ems independent ly. Ther efor e, qualit y of t he t eacher must be improved t o achieve t he curriculum’ s object ives.
Though t her e are som e improvem ents, special educat ion in Indonesia st ill confront w it h a lot of issues and problems. Government , st akeholders, t eachers, and par ent s should w ork t oget her t o creat e a bet t er environment f or st udent s w it h special needs. This effort w ill not only ensure t hat st udent s w it h special needs gain t heir educat ion’s right but also t o achieve Indonesia’s educat ional goal, w hich is t o enhance t he int ellect ual life of t he people and develop Indonesian man or w oman.
Refer ences:
1. Indonesia Governm ent . 2007. Ret r ieved November 1, 2007 f rom:
ht t p:/ / w w w .indonesia.go.id/ en/ index.php/ cont ent / view / 301/ 793/
2. Indonesia Embassy in Korea.2007. Ret rieved November 1, 2007 from:
ht t p:/ / w w w .indonesiaseoul.org/ indexs.php
3. M inist ry of Nat ional Educat ion. 2006. Policies of t he Direct orat e for M anagem ent of Special Educat ion. Ret rieved Oct ober 26, 2007 from: ht t p:/ / ww w .dit plb.or.id/ 2006
4. M inist ry of Nat ional Educat ion. 2004. Count ry Repor t : Qualit y Educat ion for All Young People Challenges, Trends, and Priorit ies in 47t h Int ernat ional Conference on Educat ion. Ret rieved Oct ober 26, 2007 from:
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5. Wardhani, Purna. 2006. Count ry Report : Development of Special Educat ion in Indonesia, in 26t h Asia-Pasific Int ernat ional Seminar on Educat ion for Individual wit h Special Needs. Ret rieved Oct ober 27, 2007 from:
