The development of national education has been
given top priority in the Indonesian national
development. This commitment is in accordance with Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution which
stipulates that: 1) every citizen has the right to obtain
education; and 2) the Government provides one
national education system that is supported by law.
This provision appears in the GBHN and in Education
Law No. 2/1989 which provide direction and
guidelines for the implementation of the national
education system in the national development
programme.
The educational system in Indonesia is operated
through two channels: school education and out-ofschool
education. The structure of the educational
system in Indonesia is presented in Figure 1
(Attachment A). The school educational levels are
as follows: a) two years for kindergarten; b) six years
for primary education; c) three years for lower
secondary school (LSS); d) three years forupper
secondary school (USS); e) four years for the first
university degree; f) two years for the second
university degree; and g) two years for the third
university degree. The programmes for out-of-school
education are: a) day care centres; b) play groups; c)
Packet A and Packet B; d) income-generating
programmes and apprenticeships, and e) private
courses.
The agencies primarily responsible for school
education in Indonesia are the Ministry of Education
and Culture (MOEC), the Ministry of Home Affairs
and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The
educational levels in the ministries mentioned above
are similar due to the similarity of curricula. The
only difference in curricula is the additional religious
discipline in the educational system under the
Ministry of Religious Affairs. The organizational
structure of the Ministry of Education and Culture
(MOEC) at the national and provincial levels is
presented in Figure 2 (Attachment A). The organizational
structure of the MOEC is as follows:
a) At the central level, the MOEC consists of seven
principal working units which are:
Secretariat-General
Inspectorate-General
Agency for Educational and Cultural Research
and Development
Directorate-General for Basic and Secondary
Education
Directorate-General for Higher Education
Directorate-General for Out-of-School Education,
Youth and Sport
Directorate-General of Culture
b) At the lower level, the MOEC is represented by a
Provincial Office of Education and Culture in
each of the 27 provinces, and by a District Office
of Education and Culture in each of the 305
districts in Indonesia.
The major task of the provincial and district
Education and Culture Offices is to operationalize,
manage, adapt, and implement ministerial policies
on education and culture with respect to each of
their distinctive features of local and environmental
needs.
