Education in Indonesia
Population: 231 million people
Literacy Rate: 87.9%
GNP: USD980 per capita
Human Development Index: 0.73
Indonesia Academic Year starts from July to to following year June.
Education in Indonesia is the responsibility of the Ministry of National Education of Indonesia (Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia / Depdiknas). Education in Indonesia was previously the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia (Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia / Depdikbud). In Indonesia, every citizen has to have nine years of education, six years at elementary level and three in middle school.
Every Indonesian shall have the right to obtain education and the government shall establish and conduct a national education system which shall be regulated by the state. Struggling under the shift of political system and economic structure, and the shift from centralized concentration of power development to decentralization, the government of Indonesia through the Ministry of National Education has done efforts to maintain the existing education development achievement, to prepare high quality of human resources, and to make some adjustment toward the national education system in line with the implementation of decentralization.
Elementary School - Sekolah Dasar (SD)
Children ages 7-12 attend Sekolah Dasar (SD) (literally Elementary School). This level of education is compulsory 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[2]. Similar to education systems in the U.S. and Australia, 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 - Sekolah Menengah Petama (SMP)
Middle School, generally known by the abbreviation "SMP" (Sekolah Menengah Pertama) is part of primary education in Indonesia. 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 cease formal education. There are around 22,000 schools in Indonesia with a balanced ownership between public and private sector.
High School - SMA, SMK
Senior high school (SMA), Indonesian High school (Sekolah Menengah Umum, SMU) or vocational high school (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan, SMK) - Based on the national constitution, Indonesian citizens do not have to attend high school as the citizens only require nine years of education. This is also reflected by the number of high schools in Indonesia, with just slightly below 9,000 schools.
Tertiary education
After graduation from High school or college, students may attend a university. However in Indonesia, Higher Education (Perguruan Tinggi) may includes all forms of education after students graduate from Senior Secondary School (private and public). Higher Education is responsible for guaranteeing that students will achieve success in their future vocational and social activities.
Updated On: 15.02.09