Indonesian+Education

"Law No. 20/2003" "Based on the correct constitution, education is defined as a planned effort to establish a study environment and education process so that the student may actively develop his/her own potential to gain the religious and spiritual level, consciousness, personality, intelligence behavior and creativity to him/herself, other citizens and for the nation. The constitution also noted that education in Indonesia is divided into two major parts, formaland non-formal. A formal education is divided again into three levels, primary, secondary and tertiary education."

Indonesian students are required to receive nine years of education, six at the elementary level and three at the middle school level. Education past middle school is not required by the constitution of Indonesia. There are two types of schooling in Indonesia. One is the public school which is operated by the Ministry of National Education. There is also the private institution which is privately operated.

There are three steps to education.   **__Kindergarten:__** From birth until the age of 5, Indonesian children do not generally have access to formal education. From the age of 5 to 6 or 7, they attend kindergarten //(Taman Kanak-kanak)//. This education is not compulsory for Indonesian citizens, as the aim of this is to prepare them for primary school. The majority of kindergartens are private schools, with more than forty-nine thousand kindergartens, 99.35% of the total kindergartens in Indonesia, are privately operated. The kindergarten years are usually divided into "Class A" and "Class B" students spending a year in each class.

__**Elementary School:**__ Children ages 7-12 attend //Sekolah Dasar// (literally Elementary School). This level of education is required for all Indonesian citizens, based on the national constitution. In contrast to the majority of privately run kindergartens, most elementary schools are government operated public schools, accounting for 93% of all elementary schools in Indonesia. Similar to education systems in the United States, students must study for six years to complete this level. Some schools offer an accelerated learning program, where students who perform well can finish elementary school in five years.

__**Middle School:**__ Middle School, generally known as//Sekolah Menengah Pertama//, is part of primary education in Indonesia. After graduating from elementary school, students attend Middle School for three years from the age of 13-15. After three years of schooling and graduation, students may move on to High School or College, or they do not have to continue with formal education. There are around 22,000 schools in Indonesia with a balanced ownership between public and private sector.

__**High School and College:**__ Students in Indonesia do not have to continue with high school school or college education. It is completely optional.

Above is an image of an elementary school uniform worn by a young boy.

media type="youtube" key="n3hbJuoMW4k" height="301" width="294" This is the story of a girl named Ifah who is in sixth grade.Ifah comes from a poor community in Indonesia. Most of the time, children who come from poor families have a small chance of an education. However, Ifah is currently enrolled in an UNICEF- supported tactic which is known as a CLCC, or Creating Learning Communities for Children.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Indonesia )