Education 4 - Indonesia at Melbourne

Girls do better than boys at school in Indonesia – if they get the chance

Indonesian girls are now outperforming boys in both literacy and numeracy in the early grades. But as Senza Arsendy and George Sukoco write, the picture is more complicated at the high school level.

Sex education and swimming pools: child commissioner’s blunder shows need for change

Education, Policies, Public health, Society

A laughable claim about the danger of falling pregnant in swimming pools raises serious concerns about the state of adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Indonesia, writes SurveyMETER’s Dwi Oktarina

Deaf students demand rights as a minority language group

Education, Human Rights, Linguistics, Policies, Society

High university drop-out rates for deaf students point to the need for education in their mother tongue, writes Alies Poetri Lintangsari.

Mother-tongue language education: improving education quality while preserving culture

Analysis, Education

Bahasa Indonesia is the mother tongue of less than 10 per cent of the Indonesian population. Senza Arsendy makes the case for greater use of local languages in the education of young students.

In the zone: making education fairer

Analysis, Education

The government has recently implemented a new school zoning policy in an attempt to reduce educational inequality. It's a good start, writes Senza Arsendy, but more work is needed to ensure all students have access to quality education.

Is education reform finally paying off for Indonesian kids?

Analysis, Economy, Education, Policy in Focus, Society

How much do parents’ education levels affect the schooling of their children? Senza Arsendy presents the results of a recent study showing that despite concerns over the impact of growing economic inequality, educational mobility increased from 1997 to 2015.

Talking Indonesia: disability and education

Education, Human Rights, Talking Indonesia

Although opportunities for education remain limited for people with disability in Indonesia, some Islamic universities have taken steps to improve accessibility. In Talking Indonesia, Dr Dirk Tomsa chats to Dr Dina Afrianty about what pushed them to act, and the likelihood that others will follow.

Is it really a surprise that radicals might have infiltrated Indonesian kindergartens?

Analysis, Education, Religion

Indonesians were stunned over the weekend by photos of kindergarten students dressed as violent extremists. Lies Marcoes writes that while the choice of costume was disturbing, the fact that something like this could happen in an Indonesian kindergarten was not a surprise.

China’s Confucius Institutes in Indonesia: walking a fine line

Analysis, Education, Foreign Policy, Society

The Chinese state's Confucius Institutes are often depicted as vehicles for expanding Chinese soft power. But as Rika Theo writes, the Indonesian experience demonstrates that the institutes are not simply unidirectional projects imposed on Indonesia from a wealthy partner seeking to expand its influence.

Posted in: Education