Indonesia

Influenced by the condition of young children within its own country and by the pattern of international evidence about the value of Early Childhood Education and Development... Show More + (ECED), the government of Indonesia has implemented policies and programs that prioritize the early years of children's lives. The first critical step was taken in 2001, when a new directorate dedicated to early childhood was established within the Ministry of Education and Culture. The second critical step was taken when early childhood education was included in a succession of key policy documents-the National Education System Law No. 20 in 2003 and the Ministry of Education and Culture's Strategic Plan (Rencana Strategis or Renstra) in 2004. ECED services are privately provided in multiple formats intended to cater to distinct age groups, and several different government ministries regulate the services. These arrangements underscore the continuing challenges in coordinating services and ensuring high quality across service providers. This book uses Indonesian data to answer five questions with significance for research, policy, and practice within and beyond Indonesia: (1) shat does global evidence tell us about the importance of ECED, and what policies and programs has Indonesia implemented to promote ECED?; (2) what is the pattern of development among young children in poor villages in Indonesia, and how is that development linked with their families' characteristics and the ECED services typically available to them?; (3) what were the processes and challenges of implementing a community-driven ECED project across 50 poor districts in Indonesia?; (4) what can be learned from the short-term results of a randomized evaluation of the project's impact on children’s development?; and (5) what insights can be derived from this body of research to inform future policies and practices in Indonesia and beyond? With support from the World Bank and other development partners, the government has provided new early childhood services in 6,000 poor communities across 50 districts in the country. The lessons from this experience are focused in this book. Show Less -

This policy brief highlights the significant progress made on the millennium development goals (MDG) for gender equality and education. Focus is now on systematic measures... Show More + to increase access to improved outcomes from a more gender responsive education. The MDG targets to achieve gender parity in net enrollment at all levels of education are on track to be met by 2015, especially if disparities at the provincial level are addressed. The challenge remains to mainstream a gender perspective in education which involves assessing the implication for females and males of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs in education, in all areas and at all levels. Gender-responsive education programs consider females and males concerns as an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of education policies and programs. Show Less -

The report is divided into two parts. The first three chapters show that the vast increase in education resources has not been accompanied by a similar increase in learning... Show More + outcomes, and thus highlight the urgent need to improve the quality of spending. Chapter one starts by describing the complex financing and governance systems. With this policy framework in mind, Chapter two focuses on the 20 percent rule, analyzing its consequences for budget planning and management and examining where resources went after this vast increase in spending. The chapter also provides some estimates of the cost of meeting future government objectives, in the context of discussions on expanding compulsory education, and broadening teacher certification. Chapter three looks at education outcomes, reviewing the significant improvements in access and equity, as well as the worrisome trends in learning outcomes. It points to improving the quality of education and expanding access to secondary and above (especially for the poor) as the main challenges in the sector. Given the cost of achieving these goals, and the fact that current expenditure patterns are unlikely to lead to improvements in learning outcomes, the chapter concludes that improving the quality of spending in education is now critical. The second part of the report focuses on how to improve the quality of spending in order to continue expansion and improve learning outcomes. In chapter four, the quality of spending issue is divided into two areas: i) reassigning or improving programs at the central level, and ii) improving management at the district and school levels. At the central level, this chapter analyzes the Scholarships for the Poor program (BSM) and recommends that it be expanded and improved. At the sub-national level, the report explores how a combination of more efficient teacher management and stronger support for schools can improve efficiency and learning outcomes, and what the central government’s role should be in ensuring that these changes occur. Finally, chapter five summarizes these recommendations, providing a framework for improving the quality of spending and, ultimately, ensuring that this spending leads to an improvement in the quality of the Indonesian education system. Show Less -

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country, with more than 238 million people living in an archipelago comprising over 17,000 islands. Over the past decade... Show More + the Indonesian economy has experienced positive economic growth, reduced poverty, and made continued progress towards many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For example, Indonesia has already met and surpassed projected reductions in the number of underweight children under five years old to below 18 percent and is on track to meeting its targets for reducing overall child mortality and the targets for achieving universal basic education. While clear progress has been made on reducing poverty rates, inequality has persisted, with the result that many children and families have not shared in these gains. Over 30 million Indonesians live below the poverty line (US $2 per day) and half of all households are clustered around the poverty line. Of the poor, 65 percent currently live in rural areas. For these families, national economic improvements have brought only modest gains in health and education, putting children's development at risk and threatening national progress. A notable achievement for Indonesia is that primary school enrollment is now near 100 percent for boys and girls of all income levels. However, as children move through the primary years, the enrollment disparities seen in Early Childhood Education and Development, or ECED services re-emerge. Educational attainment profiles reveal that while almost all children from all segments of society start primary school, children from poorer households and children from rural areas have more difficulties progressing from lower levels of education to higher levels. Only 55 percent of rural children make it to junior secondary school, and less than a quarter enroll in senior secondary. In contrast, 80 percent of urban children make it to junior secondary school and almost two-thirds enroll in senior secondary. Show Less -

Drawing on the findings of recent research, this note examines the extent to which changes to policy restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Indonesian... Show More + service sector affected the performance of downstream manufacturers during 1997-2009. The analysis uncovers two important findings: first, that relaxing restrictions toward FDI in service sectors was associated with improvements in the perceived performance of those sectors, and second, more importantly, that this relaxation accounted for 8 percent of the total observed increase in manufacturers' total factor productivity (TFP) during this period. The results show that these TFP gains accrue disproportionately to those firms that are relatively more productive and that gains are related to the relaxation of restrictions in the transport as well as the electricity, gas, and water sectors. TFP gains are associated, in particular, with the relaxation of foreign equity limits, screening and prior approval requirements, but less so with discriminatory regulations that prevent multinationals from hiring key personnel from abroad. Show Less -

This paper examines the extent to which policy restrictions on foreign direct investment in the Indonesian service sector affected the performance of manufacturers over... Show More + the period 1997-2009. It uses firm-level data on manufacturers' total factor productivity and the OECD's foreign direct investment Regulatory Restrictiveness Index, combined with data from Indonesia’s input-output tables regarding the intensity with which manufacturing sectors use services inputs. Controlling for firm-level fixed effects and other relevant policy indicators, it finds, first, that relaxing policies toward foreign direct investment in the service sector was associated with improvements in perceived performance of the service sector. Second, it finds that this relaxation in service sector foreign direct investment policies accounted for 8 percent of the observed increase in manufacturers' total factor productivity over the period. The total factor productivity gains accrue disproportionately to those firms that are relatively more productive, and that gains are related to the relaxation of restrictions in both the transport and electricity, gas, and water sectors. Total factor productivity gains are associated, in particular, with the relaxation of foreign equity limits, screening, and prior approval requirements, but less so with discriminatory regulations that prevent multinationals from hiring key personnel abroad. Show Less -

The evolving nature of education system and the increasing complex challenges facing individual teachers and the teaching profession as a whole are of immense importance... Show More + in Indonesia. The Indonesian teacher reform was designed and is being implemented as a genuinely comprehensive program. From its beginning, it has therefore considered and responded to all of the necessary stages of an effective teacher management and development process. The importance of this reform is further underlined by the efforts made by the Ministry of education and culture, supported by the World Bank, to examine following points: (1) the quality of existing (pre-reform) and new (post-reform) teachers in the system; (2) the promotion of higher standards and enhanced competencies for teachers through more effective processes of recruitment, teacher education, certification, remuneration and other incentives, ongoing professional development and support, and career promotion or progression; and (3) the impact of these actions on teacher behavior and knowledge, student achievement, and the financing and efficiency of the education system. Thus, the World Bank team, with the Indonesian Ministry of national education, designed and managed a wide range of research projects and program support activities that, taken together, tell the story of the design, implementation, and impact of this reform. In order to reduce the budgetary impact of the certification program, the inefficiencies associated with teacher hiring and deployment need to be addressed. Attention will also need to be paid to staffing standards in small schools which are a key driver of low student-teacher ratios. But the incentive of both professional status and professional pay is now attracting more candidates into teacher education at the expense of other fields. The original intention of the teacher law was to put in place a framework of effective policies and procedures which would both assure the quality of the process and its products and encourage continuing professional development. Show Less -

This policy brief describes achievements and remaining gender gaps in the labor market and suggests ways to address shortcomings that are negatively affecting Indonesia's... Show More + economic development. Over the past seven years, average annual growth of women entering labor market has been substantially higher than men, in part due to expansion of service sector employment and progress in women's education. Yet women continue to face lower participation and higher unemployment rates, poorer quality work and lower wages, limited access to resources, discrimination in hiring and promotion practices in the formal sector, and informality of economic activity. They constitute most self-employed, unpaid family workers, and migrant workers, making them susceptible to personal and financial insecurity, trafficking and other human rights violations. These requires more attention to equal employment opportunities, particularly in the formal sector, strengthening the fit between women's training and skills and current labor market requirements, addressing the causes of labor market segmentation. Show Less -

This policy brief provides an overview of key achievements and outstanding issues in carrying out Presidential Instructions on gender mainstreaming (INPRES No. 9/2000),... Show More + aimed at reducing the gap between Indonesian women and men in accessing and obtaining development benefits, as well as to increase participation in and control over the development process. These Guidelines created a momentum for the advancement of women and the promotion of gender equality, which recently extended to gender-inclusive planning and budgeting. There has been some shift in socio-cultural norms and values to better protect the rights of women and men as reflected in several laws that have been revised. There are also signs, however, of an emergence of religion-inspired discriminatory legislation at the local level. The challenge now is to strengthen the implementation of gender mainstreaming by improving legislative and policy frameworks, to enforce coordination of gender mainstreaming efforts among national ministries and all levels of public institutions, and to replicate good practices displayed throughout Indonesia. Show Less -