Upcoming is National Day – a time to peer back with pride and look ahead to a better Indonesia.
With respect, Pak Prez, I’m sure you are distressed at the present you’ve inherited and determined to bring in change.
You lead the world’s fourth-largest nation with a wealth of resources, the envy of your neighbours.
There are multiple ways of measuring achievement – school leaver rates, tertiary qualifications, graduates in the workforce, and so on, so we’ll use just this agency.
It ranks the top three as Iceland, Switzerland and Norway. They appear in most lists along with Canada, Singapore and Denmark.
So how about Indonesia? This is what the World Bank said a few years ago:
‘The Indonesian school system is immense and diverse. With over 50 million students and 2.6 million teachers in more than 250,000 schools, it is the third largest education system in the Asia region and the fourth largest in the world, behind only China, India and the US.’
The old in-joke runs: ‘If you’re waiting for public transport or a new education policy, the bus will become second.’
In the past decade the Indonesian government has focused huge resources on education – a service that has to get 20 per cent of the national budget.
That doesn’t mean it’s racing ahead. A few years ago the policy was decentralisation so schools were released from Jakarta edicts to develop their own methods.
It worked in some areas where staff were innovative, though tragically it also allowed corruption to expand. Now the policy is to centralise the spending.
So here in 2026, Indonesia’s education system ranks 67th out of 203 countries, mid-tier between Albania amd Serbia, based on ‘early childhood, literacy, math, science, and college completion metrics.
SPELL IT OUT, DOCTOR
Enough data, let’s have some robust writing. British-US scientist Dr Elizabeth Pisani used to be a foreign correspondent journalist before she switched careers to epidemiology and public health.
In 2014 she published Indonesia Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation that’s still on Indonesian bookshelf shelves – an essential and funny guide to the Republic. She also wrote about education – a sample of her scathing observations here.
‘It’s not the international comparisons that really matter. What matters is that three-quarters of those Indonesians who are still in school at age 15 don’t have the basic maths skills they need to function in society.
‘Two thirds don’t have enough science to get by effectively in the modern world, and one in five can’t read well enough to perform basic tasks in the workplace.’
Yes, there have been improvements since then, but too few
Every so often I have chance encounters with ordinary folk who speak English, a skill rarely needed in their jobs. When asked where they learned, a common answer has been the flicks, YouTube and phone chats – in other words ‘autodidaks’.
They are bright, determined – and the future if encouraged and applauded.
Rarely have they learned formally, getting the essential language through their own efforts, rarely from the two-hours of repetitious grammar from unqualified teachers,
There are around 4.500 unis in Indonesia, public and private; none are in the world’s top 190. No surprise that the rich and influential send their children overseas to study.
That’s what your family did when you were an ankle-biter.
Now you’re the Prez. Your successors want your help – our help – to get the education they need here and now to make a better world
This is the concern of all decent people who marvel at this country’s potential and are desperate to see it achieved – as you are.
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