Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

I.1 Indonesia at a Glance

Indonesia is the largest island nation in the world. Its 17,000 islands form an
archipelago that bridges the continents of Australia and Asia. The total landmass, which
includes five major islands, is 2 million square kilometers. Indonesia is the fourth most
populous country in the world after China, India, and the United States. In 1999, its
estimated population was 210 million, up from 179 million in 1990. The average annual
rate of population growth was 2.1 percent during the 1980s, but it declined to 1.5 percent
by 1999. The rate is projected to decline slightly further to 1.4 percent by 2005. In
absolute terms, this means that the Indonesian population grew by around 3.2 million
persons per year between 1990 and 1998, and will increase by roughly 3 million annually
until 2005.

By year 2001, children below the age of five will number 22 million, or 10
percent of the population and the school-age children (5 to 14 years) will number 40
million, or 19 percent of the total population. Today, one in every five Indonesians is a
teenager, and, in 2001, the number of adolescents will be 44 million. As Indonesia’s
population is aging, children under age 15 as a percentage of the total population have
decreased from 44 percent in 1971 to 36 percent in 1990; while in 2001, children under
15 years of age will account for just 29 percent of the population.

Java and Bali are home to 60 percent of the total population, but represent only 7
percent of the total land area of the country. The Eastern islands that comprise Nusa
Tenggara, Sulawesi, The Mollucas and West Papua support 21 percent of the population,
but account for 69 percent of the country’s land area. From 1971 to 1990 (when the latest
National census was conducted), annual urban growth rates were consistently double
those of the total population.

Indonesia has the largest number of Muslims as of any country. Its population is
made up of 300 ethnically distinct groups who speak a multitude of local languages and
practice four major religions (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism). Divided into
26 provinces, Indonesia derives its identity from both regionality and heterogeneity.
Whether in economic, geographic, religious, cultural or ethnic terms, Indonesia has a
pronounced diversity.

The country’s heterogeneity was heavily influenced by centuries of trade with

Indians, Chinese, Arabs and much later with Europeans, who introduced a variety of
religions, languages, customs and other forms of material expression that are manifested
in the country’s diverse ethnic cultures. Although local languages are still used in many
areas, a National language based on Malay has been the official language since the
country’s Independence. According to the 1990 census, 87 percent of the people are

1
Muslim. While Islam and other formal religions are practiced, however, many groups
continue their adherence to customary beliefs, tradition, and laws, known as adat.
Practices relating to marriage and divorce, inheritance and land resource management are
often still governed by adat law.

From roughly the seventh to the 14th century, Indonesia had a number of powerful
Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms like Sriwijaya and Majapahit that exerted influence
throughout Southeast Asia. Beginning in the 15th century, Islam gained dominance. The
16th century saw the arrival of Europeans, mainly Portuguese and Dutch, who competed
to capture the lucrative spice trade routes. The Dutch emerged victorious and gained
sovereignty over the islands known as the Dutch East Indies for 350 years, ( except for
brief interludes of control by the British during Napoleonic Wars and by the Japanese
during World War II) until Independence was declared in 1945.

The first two decades of post-independence under President Soekarno (known as

old order) were focused on unifying the country politically. However, economic and
social conditions were difficult; for most people, the life span was short, disease was
prevalent and food was in short supply. In 1965 a coup by alleged communist forces was
suppressed, a period of anarchy and conflict followed in which thousands of people were
killed. General Soeharto took command and enforced military rule, generally known as
New Order

After being elected President by the country’ provisional parliament in 1968,

Soeharto embarked on efforts to strengthen and stabilize the economy. Social
development programs aimed at improving food self-sufficiency and expanding
education and health services, matched by long-term schemes for exploitation of natural
resources such as oil and minerals. This strategy led to more than two decades of much-
heralded social and economic achievements.

Today, however, with the erosion of government spending for social programs and
widespread poverty stemming from the current economic crisis has, at least temporarily,
undermined the decades of progress. Combined with growing disillusionment about
exploitations of the “New Order” regime, the crisis led to massive protest and rioting that
forced out Soeharto from office on 21 May 1998. A reform movement and calls for a
more open and democratic system by an increasingly better informed and self-confident
polity led to the country’s first multi – party freely contested election in nearly 40 years
on 7th June 1999. A dramatic Presidential contest in the National legislature in October
and election of a credible reform administration and cabinet under President
Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice-President Megawati Soekarnoputri followed this election.

I.2. Education Sector in Indonesia

2
 The National Education System of Indonesia is generally aimed at elevating the
intellectual life of the Nation and developing the Indonesian people fully, i.e. as people
who are devoted to God, have knowledge and skills, are in good physical and spiritual
health, are independent and fair, and feel responsible for their countrymen and Nation.
The education system is organized in two different paths, i.e. school and out-of-school
education. School education is organized in schools through teaching and learning
activities that are gradual, hierarchical, and continuous. Out-of-school education is
organized outside the formal schooling through teaching and learning activities that may
or may not be hierarchical and continuous. Education within the family constitutes an
important part of the out-of-school education and provides religious, cultural and moral
values and the family’s skills.

A complex array of institutions provides and delivers education in Indonesia. It

caters to approximately 45 million students at all levels. The largest player is the Ministry
of National Education (MONE), which administers formal public and private schools and
universities, as well as non-formal modes of education. The educational efforts of
Ministry of National Education are supplemented by Ministry of Religious Affairs
(MORA) that is responsible for development of Madrasah Education which also imparts
general education besides the religious education. Accordingly the basic education is also
delivered under the MORA through Madrasahs and Pesantren. Islamic Primary Schools
called Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) are equivalent to primary schools (or SD) and Islamic
Junior Secondary Schools called Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs) are equivalent to General
Junior Secondary School (SLTP). An MI provides 30 percent of the curriculum for
religious teachings and 70 percent for general course of the same standard as of general
SD. MI’s certificates are equally honored as those SD’s. MI students can transfer to SD
and MI graduates can pursue their junior secondary education to SLTP. MTs and
Pesantren at the JSS level provide the whole of general junior secondary curriculum with
religious teaching as their local contents of the National curriculum.

I.3 The Education Delivery System in Indonesia and Its Organizational

Structure

The national formal education system consists of three main levels of education,
i.e. basic education, secondary education, and higher education. Pre-school education is
also provided to a limited proportion of children (see figure 1.1). The school education is
provided both by governmental and non-governmental agencies as well as by the
community. Basic education is a general education of nine years, i.e. six years of primary
and three years of junior secondary school. Basic Education is a compulsory education
aimed at providing the learners with basic knowledge and skills. Junior secondary
education consists of two different types of schools i.e. general junior secondary schools
and vocational junior secondary junior secondary schools. The goal of basic education is
to develop students as individuals, members of society, citizens and members of
mankind, as well as to prepare them to pursue study in secondary education. Of the 29.45
million children enrolled in primary schools, about 82 percent attend public institutions
largely financed through the Ministry of Home Affairs, 6 percent attend private schools, 1

3
percent attend the public Madrasah Ibtidaiyah and 11 percent attend private Madrasah
Ibtidaiyahs .
Figure 1.1
School System in Indonesia Based On
Education Law No. 2 Year 1989

Academic Professional
Education Education

Official
School Doctorate Professio
Islamic
Program nal
Age Doctorate
Program (S3) Program

22
Islamic
Master Master Professio
21 Higher Program Program nal
Education (S2) (S2) Program
20

19
Islamic Under
Under Graduate Diploma 4
18 Graduate Degree Program Diploma 3
Program Program Program
Diploma 2
17 (S1) (S1)
Program
Diploma 1
Program
16 Islamic General Senior Vocational Senior
Senior Senior Secon- Secondary School Secondary School
15 Secondary dary School (Sekolah Menengah (Sekolah Menengah
Education (Madrasah Atas/SMA) Kejuruan/SMK)
14 Aliyah)
Islamic Junior
13 Secon-dary General Junior Secondary School/SLTP
School
(Madrasah
(Sekolah Lanjutan Tingkat Pertama)
12 Tsanawiyah)
Basic
11 Education

10 Islamic
Primary
9 School
(Madrasah
Primary School
Ibtidaiyah) (Sekolah Dasar/SD)
8

6 Islamic
Kindergarten
Preschool (Raudhatul Kindergarten
5 Athfal) (Taman Kanak-kanak/TK)
4
 In the MTs, pupils receive an education broadly similar to that in the public
primary schools. They follow largely the same academic curriculum but with more
emphasis on religious studies, including elementary Arabic. Most of madrasahs and
pesantren are being developed to combine the teaching of religion and Koran with the
modern sciences in a single educational institution. Because they were originally
religious educational institutions, the MORA is administering them, while the MONE is
administering general schools. However, there are still religious schools that do not
include “secular” subjects as part of their curriculum. These religious schools are given
the name of Madrasah Diniyah and Salafiyah.

Secondary education is available to graduates of both primary schools and MIs.

The paths of secondary education include general secondary school, vocational secondary
school, religious secondary school, service-related secondary school, and special
secondary school. Secondary education gives priority to expanding knowledge and
developing students’ skills and preparing them to continue their studies to the higher level
of education or the preparation of students to enter the world of work and expanding their
professional attitude. The length of junior secondary education is three years. The senior
secondary schools take another three years. In addition to the general secondary schools,
there are also Islamic General Senior Secondary Schools called Madrasah Aliyah (MA),
equivalent to general Secondary Schools.

At the senior secondary level, in 1995, of the total of over 4.67 million pupils, 49
percent were in private schools, 40 percent in public schools, and 4 percent in public
madrasah aliyah, and 6 percent in private. At senior secondary level, both the public and
private schools are further divided into general schools (Sekolah Menengah Umum-SMU)
and vocational schools (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan-SMK) of several types, in which
about 1.65 million pupils follow vocationally oriented curricula.

Higher education is an extension of secondary education, mainly aimed at

mastering arts, humanities, sciences, technology, and research work, whereas professional
education is mainly aimed at developing knowledge and practical skills for specific
professions. Institutions involved in higher education are of several types: academics,
polytechnics, school of higher learning, institutes, and universities. The duration of higher
education is three years for diploma program (D3) and four years for under graduate
program (S1). After under graduate program, students can continue to master program
for two years (S2) and finally to doctorate program for additional three years (S3). Higher
education includes several levels of study programs. Of the 2.65 million tertiary students,
32 percent were in public universities, 55 percent in private universities, and 10 percent
in public and 3 percent in private university-level Islamic Institute (Institut Agama Islam
Negeri-IAIN).

Pre-school education aims at stimulating physical and mental growth of children

outside the family circle before entering primary education that can be held in formal
school system or out-of-school education. Among the types of pre-school education
available are kindergarten at the formal school and play groups and day-care centers at

5
the out-of-school. Kindergarten is provided for children age 5 to 6 years for one to two
years, while play groups and daycare centers are attended by children at least 3 year old.

The type of out-of-school education consists of general education, religious

education, service-related education, and vocational education. Out-of-school education
may include courses, group learning such as packet A, B, Income Generating Program, or
any other option like apprenticeship.

I. 4 The National Policy Towards Basic Education

The government of Indonesia (GOI) had put special efforts for the development of
basic education from the beginning of The First 25 Year Development Plan (PJP I) in
early 1970s. Further accelerated level of investment was made for the development of
primary education at the beginning of the Second Five-year Development Plan (Repelita
II). Using revenue from the 1973 oil windfall, GOI initiated a large primary school
construction program, channeled through the Presidential Instructions Block Grant for
primary schools, (called the INPRES SD).

By 1978, significant results of the expansion of primary education were achieved.

Indonesia was able to achieve the primary school participation rate of 88.6 percent, at the
end of the Third Five-year Development Plan (Repelita III). This achievement had
encouraged the government to design the six-year universal basic education at the
beginning of the Fourth Five-year Development Plan (Repelita IV). The objective of the
six-year universal basic education was to increase the participation rate of schooling at
the primary level for the population at the age of 7 to 12 years old to 100 percent. The
government targeted that the basic education should be universalized at the end of
Repelita V. Finally on the National Education Day on May 2 1984, the Indonesian
President issued a decree for six-year universal basic education. This program requires
government to provide the whole basic education infrastructure at the elementary level.
Consequently at the end of Repelita V, Indonesia had achieved the enrolment rate of 93.5
percent in primary education. This achievement encourage Indonesian government to
extend basic education to 9 years compulsory education i.e. six years of primary
education plus 3 years junior secondary education.

The decision to expand junior secondary education participation as rapidly as

feasible is justified for several reasons. First, expansion appears to be a precondition for
the rapid growth of the Indonesian economy in the medium term. Recent research on the
development of East Asian economies indicates that, after the achievement of near
universal primary education, the secondary (junior and senior) education has had a strong
impact on economic growth, Secondary education plays the role of providing educated
entrants to the labor force, enhancing the trainability of workers, and providing qualified
inputs into higher levels of education. Social rates of return to education computed from
1986-92 indicate that returns to junior secondary education are the highest among the
education subsectors.

6
1.5. The Present Level of Access to Basic Education and Its Distribution by
Income Levels

Since the implementation of the universal six-year and adoption of nine-year

basic education policy in Indonesia, there have been considerable achievements. There
has been rapid increase in the net enrolment rate, which has reached 93 percent for
primary school and 59 percent for the junior secondary level. However, problems of
equity and quality remain, which are mainly related to differences in socio-economic
status of parents and geographical locations since Indonesia is an archipelago where level
of development varies considerably across regions. The President declared the Nine-Year
Basic Education in 1994 mandatory and set the goal of achieving a 100 percent gross
enrolment rate at junior secondary level by the year 2013. Encouraged by progress in this
area, in 1996 the government advanced the target year to 2008.

The strategy to enroll all children of junior secondary school age involves a mixed
educational program of conventional formal junior secondary schools (SLTPs and
MTs/Madrasah Tsanawiyah), open SLTPs and non-formal junior secondary education
(known as Paket B or Package B). The ‘Package B’ system does not charge school fees
and is intended to facilitate access for children from remote areas and poor families. The
policy of basic education seems to be effective in giving boys and girls equal access at
both primary and junior secondary levels (Table 1.1). However, the difference in
enrolment between urban and rural children at junior secondary level is significant,
implying the need for expanding the public community in education to rural areas more
rapidly and effectively.

Table 1.1
Net Enrolment Ratio

Year Male Female Male + Female

Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total
Primary
School
1993 93.5 89.9 91.0 92.9 90.5 91.3 93.2 90.2 91.1
1994 94.1 91.3 92.2 93.0 91.6 92.1 93.5 91.5 92.1
1995 93.0 90.6 91.4 92.3 91.2 91.5 92.6 90.9 91.5
1996 92.7 91.0 91.5 91.9 91.2 91.4 92.3 91.1 91.5
1997 93.4 92.0 92.5 92.5 92.0 92.2 93.0 92.0 92.3
1998 93.0 91.5 92.0 92.5 91.8 92.0 92.7 91.7 92.0
1999 93.5 92.0 92.6 93.1 92.4 92.6 93.3 92.2 92.6
Junior
Secondary
1993 65.9 37.8 46.8 63.5 37.8 46.7 64.7 37.8 46.7
1994 66.8 41.7 50.0 65.3 41.8 50.1 66.1 41.8 50.0
1995 66.6 42.5 50.7 66.4 42.8 51.2 66.5 42.7 51.0
1996 68.5 45.7 53.6 69.4 47.1 55.5 69.0 46.4 54.5
1997 70.8 50.2 57.4 70.4 51.1 58.3 70.6 50.6 57.8
1998 69.3 48.8 56.0 70.1 50.4 57.8 69.7 49.5 56.9
1999 71.5 50.9 58.4 71.4 52.7 59.9 71.4 51.7 59.1
Source: SUSENAS, 1999, special tabulation by IHS

7
It can also be noted that net enrolment ratio in junior secondary schools for the children
from lowest quintile of income group is less than 50 percent. The difference in enrolment
between the lowest and the highest quintile of income group is almost two fold (Table
1.2).

Table 1.2
Net Enrolment Rate (in percentages) by Income Group

Level/ Income Group Total

Year Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5
Primary
1997 90.5 93.0 93.5 93.7 92.1 92.3
1999 90.5 93.2 94.0 93.7 93.2 92.6
Junior S.
1997 39.5 54.3 63.3 70.7 75.6 57.8
1999 42.7 55.6 64.8 70.3 77.5 59.1
Source: SUSENAS, 1999, special tabulation by IHS

1.6. Internal Efficiency: Repetition, Dropouts and Non-completion

The basic education system has significant levels of students’ repetition, dropping
out, and non-completion. This situation, characteristic of the system since the First Five-
year Plan (REPELITA I), is caused among other things such as inadequate facilities,
underpaid teachers and lack of parental support, mainly due to poverty. The Government
has been systematically trying to reduce the incidence of repetition and dropping out. For
example, efforts have been made to abolish tuition fees in both primary and junior
secondary schools. However, this reduces only part of the burden (about 10 percent)
because parents still must pay fees for Parents-Teachers Association) contributions,
uniforms, supplementary textbooks and other necessities.

Dropout rates (DOR) at primary and junior secondary levels do not seem to have
been affected by the crisis. From 1994-1998, the DOR steadily decreased. However,
taking not-enrolled children and dropout students into consideration, there are still, on
average, 1.6 million and 4.8 million children of the relevant age group who are not in
primary and junior secondary schools, respectively. In some provinces, such as Irian Jaya
and Maluku, drop-out rates are influenced heavily not only by economic factors but also
by conditions such as political turbulence and remote geographical location of schools,
which means it is difficult to make universal policy interventions for educational
improvement in many areas.

1.7. Private Sector in Education in Indonesia

At the primary level the role of private sector in providing education is relatively
small (17 percent of enrolment), though in some provinces it is substantial. The provinces
in which private sector role is substantial are Jakarta (24 percent), North Sulawesi (25

8
percent), Maluku (24 percent), East Nusa Tenggara (44 percent), and Papua (43 percent).
However, private sector plays an important role at the junior secondary level, where it
represents 40 percent of total enrolment (Indonesian Educational Statistics in Brief,
MOEC, 1993/4). At the senior secondary level, private education institutions absorb more
than 50 percent of enrolment while over time. The private role has been growing at
tertiary level. Private sector accounts for 65-57 of enrolment tertiary level.

Table 1.3
Number of Students enroled in Public and Private Schools at Different Levels

Public % Private % Total

Kindergarten 6,478 0.4 1,589,807 99.6 1,596,283

SD 24,391,342 92.7 1,928,510 7.3 26,319,852

MI 176,610 5.2 3,203,124 94.8 3,379,734

Total Primary 24,567,952 83.0 5,131,634 17.0 29,699,586

Junior Secondary 3,959,749 66.7 1,980,454 33.3 5,940,248

MTs 301,465 24.3 940,518 75.7 1,241,983

Total JS 4,261,259 59.0 2,920,972 41.0 7,182,231

Senior Secondary (Gen’l) 1,315,007 54.2 1,112,097 45.8 2,427,174

Senior Secondary (Voc’l) 280,019 29.6 666,044 70.4 946,063
MA 171,426 41.9 238,037 58.1 409,463

Total SS 1,766,522 47.0 2,016,178 53.0 3,782,700

Tertiary 702,079 34.4 1,341,301 65.6 2,043,380

Source : Indonesian Educational Statistics in Brief, MOEC (1993/4)

There are three operators of private schools, i.e. local communities, Islamic
groups, and teachers’ associations called PGRI. Other groups such as Catholic
organizations and large enterprises have a smaller participation in numerical terms.
Before establishing the school, the operator to be begins by seeking a favorable ruling on
the part of MONE and local government officials at the subdistrict level. If the officials
perceive that there are a large enough number of primary school graduates have no access
to a public school, they can apply through a non profit association (yayasan) and get
approval from the head of MONE at province level. Normally, it takes about 9 months for
the process to be completed.

Directorate of Private Schools of MONE supervises and gives accreditation to

these private schools. A newly established school is classified as listed and a review for
potential upgrading of its status takes place three years later, when the school has

9
produced its first graduates. Depending on the results, the school may retain the “listed”
status or be promoted to a higher category. Presently about 9 percent of private schools
are in the “equivalent” category, 56 percent are “recognized,” 25 percent are “registered”
and the remaining 10 percent are “listed.”

According to the information obtained from Directorate of Private Schools of

MONE, “equivalent” schools are in general owned and operated by religious
organizations and large enterprises. While a few of them are owned and operated by
PGRIs. “Recognized” schools are in general owned and operated by teachers’
associations and non-profit organization while a few of them are owned by religious
organizations. “ Registered” schools are generally owned and operated by PGRIs and
other non-profit organization, while a large number also belong to small town and village
communities. Finally, “listed” schools are in general owned and operated by small rural
communities that do not have a public school in the community itself or at a nearby
location (World Bank, 1998).

The government provides subsidy for junior secondary private schools in the form
of textbook provision to students and grants for schools’ operational cost. It was
estimated in 1993/94 that the need of textbook for students was 31 million and 1 million
teacher guides. Actual distribution during 1993/94 –1995/96 amounted to 15.5 million
textbooks and 0.3 million teacher guides. The government could only serve half of the
private school students with the textbook, and one-third of the teachers’ requirement.
Public subsidy for operational cost is granted to both SMP and madrasah schools and is
in the form of a flat amount per classroom. The amount granted per classroom was Rp.
480,000 in 1994/95 and it covered 18,363 classroom (Word Bank, 1998). The amount of
subsidy was reduced to Rp. 300,000 per classroom while the number of subsidized
classrooms tripled. At the same time, the total amount of subsidy almost double (from
Rp. 8.8 billion in 1994/95 to Rp. 16.1 billion in 1995/96)

10
 Chapter II

PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP IN

MADRASAH EDUCATION IN INDONESIA

II.1 Historical Perspective

When Indonesia entered the New Order Era (1966), Indonesia educational system
was developed under two systems: general education and religious/Islamic education.
Initially, this dualism was born as a product of Dutch Colonialism, while later, it become
the product of two major political bases, Islam and Nationalism. Even though in the later
development, the government of Indonesia tried to reconcile the two into one ideology
called Pancasila, but the influence of Islam in education could not be easily set aside, for
Islamic education had a long history in Indonesia.

II. 1.1. The Colonial Era (Pre-1946)

Colonial Era (Pre – 1946)

In the colonial era, the development of madrasah was started with the
spirit of reformation within the Muslim society. There were two important factors
behind the rise of madrasah. Firstly, the reformists viewed that the traditional
Islamic education did not provide adequate pragmatic ability to the society;
secondly, there was a fear that the rapid development of Dutch schools could
bring a heavy secular thinking in the society. Therefore, the reformists considered
that they need to balance secularism with Islamic education, through the
development of madrasah. With varieties of schools of thought, madrasahs
spread out in many places in Indonesia.

The Dutch policies towards Islamic education were to pit some restriction
on the madrasahs, for they feared the rise of young-Muslim-educated militias that
could threaten Dutch. One of the Dutch policies to monitor madrasahs was the
issuance of Teacher Ordinance to religious teachers. The policy required religious
teachers to have license from the government. Only few religious teachers could
receive the license from the government. The history had pressurized the Dutch to
issue this policy due to the experience of 1888 Cilegon war towards the Dutch
that made the Dutch to learn lessons to restrict Islamic activities. Other policy
attempt to restrict Islamic schools was the issuance of Informal School Ordinance.
This ordinance regulated that every school should report its establishment to
Dutch government and seek approval. The report should include school’s
curricula and other information.

The reactions of Muslims towards the Dutch policies were 1) defensive, 2)

progressive, and 3) rejection. The defensive reaction was by establishing
madrasahs in the remote areas without permit from the Dutch, progressive

11
reaction was by trying to soften the Dutch discrimination towards madrasahs.
However, despite such pressures and tight monitoring from the Dutch, the
establishment of madrasahs in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan, especially in the
remote areas, could not be hampered.

With several modifications to soften the regulations, the discrimination

policies towards madrasahs still continues through the Japanese colonial time.
The community responded by establishing Majelis Islam Tinggi (The Supreme
Islamic Board). Later Majelis Islam Tinggi became the motor behind of the
flourishing growth of MI during the Japanese occupation.

II.1.2 The ‘Old-Order’ Era (1945-1966)

The development of madrasahs in the era of ‘old order’ was closely

related with the role of the MORA that was established on January 3 1946. This
institution intensively struggled for including Islamic education into Indonesian
education system by including religious subject into schools’ curricula and
through the development of madrasahs. The efforts of MORA were: 1)
introducing religious subjects in public and private schools; 2) including general
science in madrasahs curriculum, and 3) developing schools of Religious
Teachers (PGA) to produce religious teachers for public schools and madrasahs.

The establishment of MORA had strengthened the position of madrasahs

in Indonesia education. Furthermore, the efforts of the National Islamic figures
such as Ahmad Dahlan, Hasyim Asy’ari Abd Mahmud Yunus together with
MORA, enhanced the quality of madrasahs education and expanded their number.
The development of PGA gave an opportunity to produce qualified religious
teachers that would teach in madrasahs.

By the middle of the 60’s, the development of madrasahs had spread at

almost all over Indonesia. It was reported that the number of MI had reached to
13,057 madrasahs. At least there were 1,927,777 students enroled in those
madrasahs. At junior secondary level (MTs), the number had reached to 776
madrasahs with 87,932 students, while at the senior secondary level the number
had reached 16 madrasahs with 1,881 students. These numbers show that the role
of madrasahs in educating Indonesian has been significant.

In 1966, the People’s representative issued an act No. XXVII of 1966 that
allowed private madrasahs convert in into public madrasahs. As a result, 123 MI,
182 MTs and 42 MAs converted into public Madrasahs. With this conversion, the
management of madrasahs was totally turned into government, but the remaining
madrasahs (about 90 percent) continued to be run by the local community by a
yayasan public partnership in private madrasah that fulfilled certain criteria
public grants in-aid, secondment & teachers supply of textbooks, etc to limited
numbers.

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 II.1.3. The New Order Era (1966-1998)

In the beginning of New Order Era, the new government continued using
the previous policies on madrasah. However, in general, the legal framework of
government to support towards madrasahs was not adequate and very weak. In
1972, the former president of Indonesia, Soeharto, issued a Presidential Act No.
34 of 1972 and Presidential Instruction No. 15 of 1974. The acts regulated that the
madrasah will be managed under the Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC)
instead of under MORA. The Muslim society viewed the issuance of these
regulation as a maneuver to nullify the role and existence of madrasah as a
religious institution. The hand-over of madrasah’s management to MOEC was
seen as an effort from the government to “secularizing” madrasah and to abolish
madrasah from national education system. To calm down the reactions from the
Muslims, the government issued the Join Ministerial Act of Three Ministers of
MORA, MOEC and MOHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) in 1974, known as SKB
Tiga Menteri, under which Madrasahs still remained under MORA but had to
teach some general curricula to prescribed by the government.

In order to improve the educational quality of madrasah, in August 1970,

the government developed a national madrasah curriculum at all levels. Through
the Ministerial Act No. 52 of 1971, the new curriculum was introduced as a
national madrasah curriculum. Later, after some revisions and improvements, the
curriculum was announced as “1975 Curriculum.” Later, under Education Act No.
2 of 1989, madrasahs were integrated with mainstream of the National Education
system and with effect from 1994, they were required to teach the National
curriculum of 1994 of Ministry of Education.

II.2. The Present Status and Legal Framework For Madrasah Education in
Indonesia

Since decade of 90’s, the government policy towards madrasah has been to
integrate madrasah into the national educational system through the issuance of Law No.
2 of 1989 that replaces law No. 4 1950 and No. 12 of 1954. As stated in the Indonesian
constitution, every citizen has the right to education. The Education Act No. of 1989
articulates the government’s policy, objectives and guiding principles for Indonesia’s
education development for the future is act also provide the basis of the government’s
education development strategies and plans under its Second Twenty-Five-year
Development Plan (1994/95 to 2019/20).

In the General Guidelines of State Policy (GBHN), the priority of the Second
Twenty Five Year Plan (1994-2019) is economic and human resource development as a
driving force for development of the country. The primary target of the development in
education sector is the universalization of the nine-year basic education within next 15
years and improving the quality, access and relevance of education that will lead to and
increase in the quality of the Indonesian human resources. This is a prerequisite for

13
enabling the country to increase its productivity and competitiveness during the
approaching the twenty-first century, which is expected to be an are of free trade within
ASEAN region by the year 2003 and Asia Pacific open trade and investment by the year
2020. In this context, education has been viewed as an important investment in human
capital and contributory to socio-economic development by endowing individuals with
the means to improve their health, skills, knowledge, and capability for socio-economic
advancement.

Annex 1 reflects a summary of various Decrees issued by Republic of Indonesia

to integrate various type of schooling (including madrasahs) under the umbrella of the
National Education System, making them eligible for Government assistance, and
providing opportunities for greater public-private partnership. The purpose of GBHN,
Education Act No. 2 of 1989 and Decrees issued thereunder is to promote equitable
educational access, quality and relevance for all citizen of Indonesia.

Under Education Act No. 2 of 1989, madrasahs have become integral part of
national education system in providing schooling. At the primary level, madrasahs
Ibtidaiyah enroll 11 percent of the total enrolment. In 1999, there are 21,454 MI of
which 20,000 or 93.2 percent were private indicating the dominant role of private
madrasahs at this level. At the junior secondary level, MTs enroll about 18.35 percent of
the total enrolment. In 1999, there were 9,860 MTs including 8,682 (or 88.1 percent)
private MTs. Student-wise, the private madrasahs enroll much higher proportion of
students. In the MI, private sector students accounted for 91.0 percent of the total
2,894,128 students. In the MTs, private students numbered 1,320,198 or 72,8 percent of
the total enrolment of 1,813,135. Thus, the madrasahs system is dominantly private at all
levels while private schools under MONE number only 6 percent at the primary level and
46 percent at the secondary level. The madrasahs are required to teach the National
Curricula prepared by MONE for its schools, in addition to the religious curricula. Now
madrasah students are required to take the same National Examination as required of
students of MONE schools. Thus, madrasah face a challenging task to provide quality
education in order to compete with MONE schools.

II.3 Rationale For Public-Community Partnership in Basic Education

The basic rationale for Government intervention in education through public

community partnership is to assist in removing barriers of cost and isolation that keep
many of the rural poor out of school. In rural Java, for example, total expenditure per
junior secondary student is equivalent to approximately 86 percent of per capita
household expenditure for households of the lowest quintile. Junior secondary education
is therefore beyond the reach of many of the poor and near poor. The opportunity costs of
keeping children in school exacerbate the problem. Expansion of junior secondary
education in the remote rural areas, should be the main area of focus because of its direct
benefit to the poor, especially girls who are often disadvantaged in these areas.

14
 The another justification for significant attention by the Government to junior
secondary education is that the number of school places is still limited relative to
demand, despite substantial outlays by parents and a significant response of the private
sector. This inadequacy is evident from continued strong demand for generally more
costly private education often of lower quality. Large numbers of unsuccessful applicants
to schools, the prevalence of double shifts and large classes in schools, are all indicative
of increasing demand for secondary education. These trends make it necessary for the
policy-makers to encourage and strengthen the public-private partnership in provision of
post-primary education, for which madrasahs have the greatest potential because these
are community-base institutions needing public support.

Another rationale for public investment in secondary education relates to likely

external benefits associated with investments in secondary education. Research from
other countries has pointed to externalities such as reduced fertility and child mortality
and improved nutritional status that correlate with female secondary education. For
Indonesia, survey results indicate that a mother’s education is an important determinant
of prenatal care utilization: more than 90 percent of women with junior secondary
education use prenatal care, in contrast to only 75 percent of women with some primary
education. Furthermore, analysis of nutritional status in Indonesia finds a strong effect of
maternal education on children’s nutritional status: for women with between zero and five
years of education, an additional year of education has no impact on the child’s
nutritional status, while among women with six to twelve years of education (or more),
an additional year of education improves nutritional status significantly.

The role of the Government would therefore be to (a) help expand the number of
school places through a combination of direct investment and measures to stimulate
further private sector/community participation in the provision of school places, and (b)
ensure that the poor are given increased opportunity to participate in the expansion
process of schooling.

II.4. Rationale for the Government’s Partnership in Madrasahs’ Quality

Improvement

Event though at present financial support from the government to the private
madrasahs is very small, madrasahs still need partnership with the government. This is
especially needed for getting madrasahs recognition and status, and getting financial and
teaching materials assistance and maintaining minimum educational standards. Through
the Three Ministrial Joint Acts of 1974 and Educational Act No. 2 of 1989, the existence
of madrasahs is acknowledged as a part of national education system. Therefore, legally
the government programs that support madrasahs include secondment of teachers and
principals, provision of textbooks, training for teachers, and some grants assistance.
However, government’s assistance to private madrasahs still remains significantly small
as compared to their genuine requirements and needs to be enhanced many fold to
achieve equity and universalization of basic education.

15
II.5. The Process and Mechanism of Public-Community Partnership in
Development of Madrasah Education.

There are at least two major reasons behind the establishment of madrasah.
Firstly, there is a demand from many communities and parents to educate their children in
religious institutions; and secondly, there is no education institution provided by the
government that is accessible to the community at a reachable distance. When the
community feels that they need a madrasah, the community will initiate the development
of madrasah by raising funding from the community. The community will establish a
yayasan of foundation to manage the development of madrasah. There will always be
someone that will donate land for the madrasah and other people will raise donations that
come from zakah, infaq, and shadaqah to construct the madrasah building. Later on,
when the construction is completed and voluntary teachers are recruited, the yayasan will
report to the office of religious affairs at the district level to register the school’s status.
When madrasah starts functioning with a good standard, the yayasan applies for
accreditation. There are four types of accreditation given by the government: ‘listed’
(lowest), ‘registered’, ‘recognized’, and ‘equivalent’ (highest). After its recognition, the
yayasan of the madrasah is registered with MORA office at the district level, it can apply
for the INPRES fund (Presidential Instruction Fund) grant available for madrasah
ibtidaiyah or primary school to assist the construction of the madrasah. The government
also can give assistance in from of secondment of teachers and principals, and textbooks.
The process similar for establishing MTs. In the past some madrasah that showed good
performance were converted into public madrasahs.


Zakah is a type of donation required by all Muslims to pay/for the welfare of the poor.

16
 Figure 2.1

Process and Mechanism of Public Community Partnership in Madrasah’s

Establishment and Development

Need to establish
Madrasah from the community:
No government school available
Need of religious schools

Contribution from the

Decision to community
establish to land
madrasah to building materials
voluntary teachers

Report to MORA
at the district level
to get school’s status

Secondment of teachers Inpres assistance

Accredited madrasah:
and principals
listed
registered
recognized
Teacher training equivalent Textbook assistance
assistance

Status conversion Status remains

into public private

17
II.6 Cost-sharing between government, parents and the community in
Development and Operation Private Madrasahs

Private madrasahs are financed through a variety of sources from government,

parents and the community. The most common categories of the sources of their funds are
the followings :

II.6.1. Subsidy from Central and Local Governments

Government subsidy comes in the form of grants to purchase school’s

equipment and new class construction. Subsidies from the development budget
(DIP : Daftar Isian Proyek) for private madrasahs are rare, so most of them do not
count on this budget. Routine budget (DIK) grants are given to some madrasahs
for teaching activities according to the number of students registered at the
madrasahs. Some subsidies are given by the local government for classroom
rehabilitation, new classrooms and laboratory construction, teaching materials for
the subjects of science and skills development. However, the government
subsidies to private madrasahs are irregular and small.

II.6.2 Grants for Special Purposes

This type of grant is small in amount and is rarely available to majority of

madrasah. Only selected that are madrasahs eligible to receive the grants yearly
some of which are covered in foreign aided projects.

II.6.3. Government Assistance in Forms of Lands, Teaching Materials and

Training

On selective basis the government provides limited assistance for teaching

materials and conducting training for school principals, yayasan’s staff and
teachers, and finance officers. Local government assists selected madrasah
through the land grant for development of school facilities. However, the total
subsidies received by private madrasahs are very low as compared to the total
requirements of the madrasahs.

II.6.4. Secondment of Government Teachers to Madrasahs

One important form of government assistance to the private madrasah is

Secondment of government teachers and principals. All the costs of seconded
teachers and principals salaries and incentives are borne by the government.
However the number of secondment teachers and principals to private madrasah
is still very low, where the government only assists less than 10 percent of total
teachers required. More than 85 percent teachers of private madrasah are non-
permanent (honoraria), while their salaries are paid from monthly school fees and
BP3.

18
 II.6.5. Teachers’ Salary Assistance from MORA and MONE

Some of the qualified madrasahs have been taken over by MORA and
further developed into a better quality or Model Madrasah. The teacher’s salaries
for non-religious subjects (named as NIP-13) are financed by MORA. Now with
the requirements to include 1994 National Curricula into all Madrasah’s
curriculum, MORA has started to finance the non-religious subjects teachers
through NIP-15 budget.

II.6.6. Yayasans’ Income Generating Activities

Some Yayasan are generating income to finance the madrasah’s through

some form of businesses and investment (e.g. investment in income generating
property). Some are also having a Trust fund in the form of investment or bank
deposits.

II.6.7. Foreign Donors Assistance

International donor agencies (e.g. ADB, IDB) have started to provide

assistance private madrasahs that teach the 1994 National Curriculum. The
assistance includes constructing additional physical facilities, staff development,
laboratory equipment’s, and library development. The assistance is given to
selected madrasahs that fulfil the criteria identified by donor agency.

II.7 Who Bears the Cost, and Who Benefit from the Partnership?

As indicated earlier, about 90 percent of Madrasahs are private and the

government’s assistance to them is extremely small. For example, in case of private MTs,
average per pupil expenditure is Rp. 104,000 out of which government inputs is only Rp.
6,000 per pupil, while the remaining cost is borne by the parents or the community. Since
constitutionally, basic education is a public responsibility the madrasahs are providing
public good at almost no cost to the government. If MTs were not established by the
community, the government would have to establish more expensive schools (SMPs) or
invest many fold more inputs. Thus most cost of madrasah education is borne by the
community but government benefits by saving most of their cost. The community
benefits by the collective venture of madrasah development by having direct and easy
educational access for their children. Furthermore the local communities have greater say
into madrasah’s environment in accordance with their moral values and educational
aspirations.

19
 Chapter III

CONSTRAINTS ON MADRASAH EDUCATIONS DEVELOPMENT

AND INEQUITY IN RESOURCE ALLOCATION

III.1 Constraints of Madrasahs

III.1.1 Non-Existence of a Clear Policy Framework for Extending Adequate

Assistance to Private Madrasahs for Their Sustainability.

About 90 percent of madrasahs are private, but they operate in partnership

with MORA and MONE in terms of their curriculum and accreditation
requirements. Only a small fraction of them receives extremely limited inputs
from the government in form of small grants, textbooks and seconded teachers.
Although, under Education Act No. 2 of 1998, private madrasahs are part of the
National education system, yet the support extended to them by Government is
meager as compared to their genuine requirements for imparting quality
education. There is a need to appreciate the substantial role private madrasahs are
playing in providing basic education without significant inputs from the
government. It is necessary to draw up a clear policy framework for extending
assistance to private madrasahs on a systematic and long-term basis under a
carefully formulated criteria. Since free basic education is the constitutional right
of each child, provision of basic education not can be left entirely to the private
sector without substantial assistance from the government, specially when they
enroll most pupils from lower income groups, and when the majority of the
madrasahs are located in the poorer rural, or urban-under-served areas. Without
the government inputs, the quality of private madrasahs, is declining. There is a
need to carefully review the operational needs of madrasah, especially of those
run by private yayasan (foundation) or religious groups, in terms of teachers,
instructional materials and facilities, and provide them the basic inputs required
for the delivery of the quality education. Under Education Act No. 2 and the
subsequent Decrees issued by government, the role of MORA in sharing the
responsibility of providing basic and secondary education with MONE, has been
recognized Although the principles of equity of access and quality, relevancy and
efficiency of education have been emphasized in the State Policy Guidelines, but
their implementation in respect of private madrasahs has still a long way to go.
Therefore, it is necessary to draw up a clear policy framework for extending
assistance to private madrasahs on a systematic basis under carefully formulated
criteria for their long-term sustainability.

III.1.2 Teachers’ Under-Qualification, Mismatch and Non-permanent

Employment Status

Under Education Act No. 2, madrasahs are required to follow all MONE
regulations pertaining to curriculum (in addition to the religious educational
curriculum), textbooks, examinations systems, etc. However, availability of

20
qualified teachers (specially in science, mathematics and English) in madrasah is
far satisfactory. Under agreement of the three Ministries, (MORA, MONE and
MONA) the MONE is responsible to provide teachers for general subjects to
Madrasahs but in actuality, deployment of MONE Teachers for general (core)
subjects in Madrasahs is insignificant.

III.1.3 Un-economical Enrolment Size in Madrasahs

The madrasahs average school enrolment size is less than 150 in most
provinces, because of their location in rural and remote areas. A small madrasah
is very uneconomical and is indicative, if it is to be fully financed though tuition
fees and donations from the local communities which are pre-dominantly poor.

III.1.4 Lack of Laboratory and Library Facilities.

Most public madrasahs have reasonably good classroom facilities, but

teacher’ under qualification and miss-match are serious problems for them as
well. About 25 MI and 70 public MTs have been upgraded into Model
Madrasahs. They have been provided laboratory and library facilities (under two
ADB projects). They are expected to serve as resources centers for the other
public and private madrasahs of their specified catchment areas. However, their
actual success to serve as leaders and as resources centers is yet be demonstrated
or tested. On the average, only about 65 percent of their teachers had the
minimum prescribed qualification of D3 or above. About 40 percent of the
teachers were teaching the subjects in which they were not qualified.

About 46 percent of teachers of private madrasah are either part-time or

non-regular. There is only one regular teacher for every 81 students only 10
percent of their teachers are full-time who are mostly graduates of IAINs (or
Islamic Religious Education Institution) without a strong background in teaching
of science, mathematics, or English. There is more that 60 percent of mismatch
between the subjects being taught by them and the subjects of their qualifications.

III.1.5 Inadequate Availability of Textbooks.

The madrasah students are generally at the last receiving and in receiving
the free textbook form MONE under the exiting textbook delivery system (which
is budgeted and managed under MONE). For example according to a sample
survey in 1997-1998 only about 30 percent of children of the public MTs received
the textbooks of the new curriculum after mid year, and about 30 percent
purchased their own textbooks, while the remaining 40 percent relied mainly on
class notes. The situation had been changed since the implementation of textbooks
project. Gradually, the availability of students’ textbook had improved. However,
reference books, some of textbooks and reading materials are still lacking in the
madrasahs’ library.

21
 In case of private MTs, which generally enroll students from lower income
classes, the situation was found to be worst. Sample classes of private MTs visited
by the researchers indicated that less than 5 students in a class had textbooks of
core subjects. The Government policy emphasized achieving equity in educational
access and upgrading of quality of madrasahs education to bring it equivalent to
that of SMPs. This requires matching inputs to MTs and provision of textbooks to
children in MTs (both public and private) at par with the children in the general
junior secondary schools (SMPs) but implementation of the equity needs reforms
both in textbooks’ budgeting and delivery system.

III.1.6 Unfavorable Policy on Teachers’ Deployment and Provision of

Physical Facilities.

According to general education production function, an educational output

(achievement) depends upon a mix of several inputs (e.g. student’ intelligence and
preparation, parents socio-economic background, home environment, teachers
qualification and experience, textbooks, peer group, school management, etc).
Although the impact of some of these traditional inputs on educational
achievement has been questioned in the research findings, yet approximate equity
of inputs will have to be achieved gradually for achieving the equity of output,
because findings of these studies are controversial due to sample and design
problems. At present, quantity as well as quality of education inputs in madrasahs
is far below those being extended to SMPs. For example, in case of public schools
under MONE for example, one regular teacher is being provided public SMPs for
every 19 pupils as compared to one regular teacher provided for every 30 students
in public MTs. in case of private MTs, one regular teacher is being provided for
81 students as compared to one regular teacher for 22 pupils in private SMPs.
Furthermore, even in case of regular teacher, MORA teachers are far less qualified
and about 30 percent of their Principals are only senior secondary graduates.
Teachers’ upgrading is one of serious challenges, which is a fundamental
requirement for qualitative improvement and successful implementation of the
new curriculum. There are similar disparities among SMPs and MTs in their
physical facilities and in availability of science laboratories, libraries, books, etc.

III.1.7 Inadequacies of Evaluation

For any qualitative improvement in the teaching-learning process,

corresponding reforms in educational testing and evaluation methodologies are
also required. The existing evaluation system cannot discriminate between various
levels of learning, with the result that there is no significant difference between
the students’ pass percentages in schools with different qualitative inputs and
endeavors.

III.1.8 Lack of Educational Supervision

22
 There are only 654 supervisors for more than 8,000 MTs spread over 299
districts and municipalities. Ironically, about 36 percent of them posse
qualification lower than S1. Most of them have no training and professional
supervision. Their traveling budget is extremely low. Thus, virtually there exists
no System of educational supervision.

III.2 Inequity in Educational Inputs

As stated earlier, madrasahs are predominantly (more than 90 percent) private

and community based schools, offering almost the same curricula, (besides religious
education) as their equivalent MONE schools. They mostly provide schooling facilities to
poorer or marginal communities whose children are unable to get access to MONE
schools due to inaccessible location, higher cost or insufficient admission places. Most of
the children enrolled in private madrasahs come from lower income and poor families
who can not afford to pay high fees or other donations.

At present, the government assistance to most of madrasahs is non-existent or

extremely inadequate. Consequently, the resources available or expenditure per students
in madrasahs, are less than half of their counterpart government schools. The total
average in-school expenditure per student per annum in private elementary madrasahs
(MI) is Rp. 93,000,- as compared to Rp. 157,000,- in public SDs. This disparity is worse
at Junior Secondary Level where private madrasahs spend Rp. 104,000,- per student as
compared to Rp. 300,000,- in public SMPs. Average government expenditure per student
per annum in private madrasahs ibtidaiyah MIS is only Rp. 64,000,- as compare to Rp.
182,000,- in MONE’s primary school (SDN). At Junior Secondary Level, total
government expenditure per student per annum in private madrasahs is only Rp. 6,000,-
as compared to Rp. 245,000,- in public schools SMPs (See Table 4.1 for comparison).

Children of private madrasahs rarely get free textbooks from MONE. The
secondment of Government teachers to private madrasahs (Table 5.2) is also insignificant
( 1 per 100 pupils at primary level and  0.5 in case of secondary level). Therefor, most
of private madrasahs hire non-permanent or part time teachers (about 80 percent on the
average). As a consequence of the lack of essential inputs to madrasahs, quality of their
facilities and instructions is very low. Despite all this, most parents of private madrasahs
children who belong to poorer segment of society, end up paying more than 70 percent of
the schooling cost as compared to less than 18 percent paid by parents of public schools.
In monetary terms, on the average, they often pay to madrasah in fees and donations
almost double the amount paid by parents of public schools under MONE. Low
expenditure per pupil in madrasahs, is reflecting in the form of inadequate essential
inputs for the teaching-process and hence low educational quality, which in turn,
perpetuates socio-economic inequities among various strata of Indonesian society.

Table No 3.1.

23
Comparative Picture of School Expenditure Per Student and Sources of Funding for
School and Madrasahs (Excluding For Textbooks)
1995 – 1996

Type of Range of Expenditure per Average Source of Funds

School Student Expenditure per per Student
Student
Max Min Government Family/Yaya
san/other
sources

SDN 99 342 197 182 15

MIN 63 225 140 135 5
SDS 72 290 176 121 55
MI S 31 163 93 64 29

SMPN 160 462 300 245 55

MTsN 99 358 230 209 21
SMPS 113 512 273 57 216
MTsS 53 185 104 6 98

SMA 255 615 421 332 88

MAN 127 572 328 270 58
SMS 115 587 342 79 263
MAS 61 380 169 4 165

Source: Financing of Education in Indonesia: 1998, A joint study conducted by ADB and Published
comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hongkong (compiled from Table 3.4, Table 4.3 and
Table 5.3, and Table 6.5)

Table 3.2

24
 Comparative Position of Average Number of Government Teachers Seconded Per
100 Pupils in School and Madrasahs of Various Expenditure Levels

Type of Average Number of Government Teachers per 100 Pupils

School Low Expenditure Middle Expenditure High Expenditure
Schools/Madrasahs Schools/Madrasahs Schools/Madrasahs

SDN 3.38 4.56 7.22

MIN 1.58 3.75 6.54
SDS 1.58 2.75 3.51
MIS 0.05 0.70 1.60

SMPN 3.41 4.56 6.27

MTsN 2.60 3.00 4.62
SMPS 0.40 0.90 0.80
MTsS < .05 < .05 < .05

SMA 4.93 5.98 7.47

MAN 2.46 4.26 6.57
SMS 0.26 0.75 1.28
MAS < .05 < .05 < .05

Source: Financing of Education in Indonesia: 1998, A Joint study conducted by ADB, and
published by comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hongkong
(compiled from Table 3.4, Table 4.3, Table 5.3, and Table 6.5)

25
 Chapter IV

THE POTENTIAL OF PUBLIC-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP IN

MADRASAH EDUCATION FOR ACHIEVING UNYBE AND POVERTY
ALLEVIATION

IV.1 Contribution of Madrasahs in Providing Access to Basic Education

As described in the previous chapter, since the government of Indonesia issued

the Six Year Universal Basic Education in 1974, and later Nine Year Universal Basic
Education (UNYBE) in 1994, Indonesia has rapidly expanded enrolments and schools
infrastructure. The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) of primary schools (SD and MI) was
achieved to 94 percent by 1998/1999; with gross enrolment ratio (GER) of 115 percent.
In line with that achievement, Indonesia government was also successful in family
planning program, which result in the decreasing number of children at the cohort of 7 to
12 years old. Therefore, the need of providing primary education facilities is no longer
perceived as the main issue, for the provision of service is already adequate at primary
level.
However, at the junior secondary level, Indonesia is still struggling in
universalizing enrolments and providing schools infrastructure. The gap between the
number of children in the age group of 13-15 with the number of enrolment at the JSS
level is still big. The NER of JSS in 1998/1999 was only 48.6 percent with GER of 66.2
percent (Towards Nine Year Basic Education in Indonesia, MOEC, 1994). At this rate,
Indonesia is behind some of its neighbors and has a long way to go to achieve universal
basic education. At JS level, enrolment rate in Malaysia was 83 percent in 1999, the
Philippines 79 percent in 1993 (GER), and Thailand 63 percent 1994.

The World Bank under his study on education under crisis (1998) found out that
the role of private junior secondary school including madrasahs is very significant in
helping government universalize nine-year basic education. Therefore, the facts that
enrolment rate at the JSS level is low and the role of private sector in universalizing basic
education is significant, have brought a need to strengthen the role of MTs in achieving
government targets to universalize nine-year basic education.

IV.2 Analysis of Enrolment Growth Rate in MTs as Compared to General

Secondary Schools under MONE During 1990’s

26
 At present, MTs enroll about 18.35 percent of the total national enrolment at JSS
level, of whom about 54 percent are females as compared to 46 percent females
enrolment in SMPs. About 10.5 percent of total enrolment of Madrasah Tsanawiyah
education are enrolled in private MTs, while remaining 27 percent are enrolled in public
MTs. Most of private MTs are located in rural and under-served urban areas. The
government inputs to private MTs are insignificant. Most of their finances come from
students fees, and community donations. A few (generally one or two) MORA religious
teachers, and rarely one or two MONE teachers of non-religious subjects are seconded to
private MTs, while about 95 percent of their teachers are part-time or non-regular.

A large number of private MTs are also located in pesantrens (religious boarding
schools) and enroll students mostly from rural farmer and other lower or lower middle
income families. Some of the middle income families also prefer to send their daughters
to MTs instead of SMPs for religious reasons and ensuring better moral development. In
localities where there is some fear of drug trafficking, many parents of middle/upper
income level prefer to send their children to a good quality of MTs rather than SMP.
Thus, MTs are playing valuable role in providing junior secondary education to children
from low socio-economic strata, specially the female, mainly in the under-served rural
areas and under-served urban areas.

MTs have great potential in sharing the efforts of MONE for achieving the target
of UNYBE by out-reaching the rural and remote areas and attracting children from the
religious minded and poorer families. The unit cost per student in MTs is much lower
than the unit cost in SMPs, but often at the cost of quality. Therefore, substantial public
inputs are required for their quality improvement in form of better qualified regular
teachers of science, mathematics and English, science equipment, library books, teacher
guides, laboratories, etc. the enrolment potential of MTs Education can be observed by
comparing the trend of their enrolment as compared with that of SLTP/SMPS during the
pre-crisis period of 1989-1993.

Table 4.1
Trends of Enrolment in SMPs and MTs
During 1989-1993 at JSS Level

Enrolment (In Average

School Type Million) Annual Growth
1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 Rate in %

SLTP/SMP (Public) 3.519 3.531 3.607 3.679 + 1.49 %

SLTP/SMP (Private) 2.334 2.155 1.997 1.898 - 7.1 %

Sub-Total SMP 5.853 5.686 5.604 5.577 - 1.6 %

MTs (Public) 0.221 0.233 0.241 0.267 + 6.5 %
MTs (Private) 0.705 0.753 0.811 0.898 + 8.4 %
Sub-Total 0.926 0.986 1.051 1.165 + 7.95 %
Total

27
(SLTP+SMP+MTs) 6.779 6.672 6.655 6.742 - 0.2 %

Source of Data: Indonesia: Education Statistic in Brief 1992-93 published by MORA

Table 4.1 shows that, during 1989-93, the enrolment of SLTP/SMP (under
MONE) has declined at the rate of 1.6 percent per annum, while enrolment of MTs
increased at the rate of 7.95 percent per annum. Demand for enrolment in madrasah
education in general, and for MTs schooling in particular, has been increasing even
further during the financial crisis years in Indonesia since 1997 (see Table 4.2).
Surprisingly, but not unexpectedly, the enrolment in MTs continued increasing during the
crisis period, while the enrolment in public SMPs remained almost static but enrolment in
private SMPs declined. The increase in MTs enrolment can be attributed to the fact that
(i) they are more easily accessible because of their location closer to the communities, (ii)
the cost of MTs schooling is lower than SMP costs, (iii) parents feels their children more
secure in madrasahs than in other schools against the recent menaces of drug trafficking
and other sources of adolescents delinquencies.

Table 4.2 :
Projected Enrolments, Total Gross Participation Rates, Rates of Entrance in
Grade 7, and Enrolment Share of MTs at Basic Education Level for Universalization
of Access to Nine Year Basic Education

Unit Bench End of End of End of

Mark REPELITA REPELITA REPELITA
1993-94 VI VII VIII
Project Enrolment in Mill 29.523 28.954 28.148 27.627
SD/MI (Grad 1-6)
Gross Participation % 110.0 113.0 112.5 112.3
rate at Primary Level
Annual Output of Mill 3.978 4.013 3.929 3.831
graduates from
SD/MIS (Primary
Level)
% of SD/MI graduates
Entering Grade 7 in
(i) SMPs/SLTP % 55.7 62.8 70.9 81.1
(ii) MTS % 10.8 13.1 15.72 18.9
(iii) Total % 66.5 75.9 86.6 100.0
Project Enrolment at
JSS Level in:
(i) SMPS/SLTP Mill 5.747 6.822 7.827 8.602
(ii) MTS Mill 1.214 1.407 1.755 2.057
(iii) Total Mill 6.961 8.229 9.582 10.659
Percentage of MTs in
Total Enrolment % 17.36 17.10 18.3 19.3
Share of SMPs and
MTs in the Total

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Gross Enrolment
Ratios at JSS level in
(i) SMPs/SLTP % 43.4 51.5 60.5 78.3
(ii) MTS % 9.2 10.6 13.6 16.2
(iii) Total % 52.6 62.1 74.1 84.5

In addition to the regular MTs, there are about 2,000 pesantrens having some
form of madrasahs education which combine general education and
vocational/entrepreneurial training with the religious education. Most pesantrens also
provide residential and boarding facilities at nominal cost, which are provided free at cost
to homeless and extremely poor students. The contribution of most pesantrens is another
additionally to universalization of nine-year basic education (UNYBE). They are also
source of poverty alleviation and promoting sustainability for the poorest.

The above analysis is indicative of the fact that madrasahs are the educational
institutions which are pre-dominantly source of support for the poor, the females, and
people living in under-served and remote areas. They are community-based institutions
run by community through yayasan or local religious leaders. The actual data on demand
for madrasah education, their community-based location, support by the community and
their moral standards show that MTs have great potential for achieving UNYBE as well
as for creating a just and civic society at modest costs. However, to be fair to madrasah
children, the policy makers should also see beyond the numbers and recognize the moral
development aspects. They should provide resources for quality input such that the
madrasah children can become competitive in the rapidly changing socio-economic and
technological world. This will require allocation of equitable assistance to madrasahs at
par with MONE schools from the government as well as from the international agencies
without any bias. The principle of equity in access to basic education for all children
(whether in schools or madrasahs) should be implemented in the true spirit and actuality.

Table 4.3
Yearly Enrolment Increase Junior Secondary Schools

1996/1997 1997/1998 1998/1999

Schools
Enrolment Increase % Enrolment Increase % Enrolment Increase %
MTsN 425.275 34.068 8,71 454.844 29.569 6,95 471.074 16.230 3,57
MTsS 1.134.064 96.420 9,29 1.229.118 95.054 8,38 1.273.968 44.850 3,65
SLTPN 5.012.312 328.638 7,02 5.163.628 151.316 3,02 5.258.460 94.832 1,84
SLTPS 2.520.988 259.229 11,46 2.432.758 (88.230) (3,50) 2.306.168 (126.590) (5,20)

IV.3 Potential of MTs in UNYBE and Poverty Alleviation

Table 4.2 shows the long-term enrolment projections for junior secondary level,
which were prepared by educational planning consultants in 1994-1995, based on the
policy parameters of Repelita VI (Indonesian Sixth-Five Year Development Plan) and PJP
II (Second 25 year Development Plan). These parameters were quite ambitious, and so
were the enrolment projections. The projected enrolment target for year 2003 (end of
Repelita VII) was 1,755 million for MTs and 7,827 million for SMPs. Now after five

29
years, we note that, in actual achievement, the MTs have almost exceeded the target of
2003 much earlier (i.e. in 1999-2000), while the SMPs enrolment shows short-fall of
about 0.263 million during the same period (Table 4.3)

30