Primary Education

In Indonesia education is centrally controlled by the ministry of national education. 6

years in primary school and 3 years in junior high school are compulsory. The primary
phase follows on after optional pre-school playgroups that may commence in a childs
third year. Most elementary schools are government controlled. Some offer accelerated
programs that compress the phase to 5 years. As Islamic education system operates in
parallel to this.

Middle Education
Junior high school offers a bridge between the gentler pace of the elementary phase, and
the challenges of senior high school that may follow. It also assists educators to determine
a possible future direction for their students. The Islamic education system continues to
provide an alternative.

Secondary Education
There are two different kinds of Indonesian high schools providing two streams of
education for those who choose to optionally enrol. One of these is aimed at those who
intend to go on to university. The other is for those who plan to find jobs right away.
Other young people choose the Islamic alternative.

Vocational Education
Vocational training is mainly provided by private training colleges and initiatives by
donor countries. Unfortunately this continues to occur mainly in the cities. This continues
to condemn most of the rural poor to a life of drudgery and manual labor.

Tertiary Education

There are 4 kinds of

tertiary education
institutions in Indonesia,
namely polytechnics,
academies, institutes
and universities. Some
of these are state
controlled, some are religiously affiliated and some are privately funded.

The oldest is the University of Indonesia founded in 1947. It enjoys a prestigious local
reputation and was ranked among the top 50 in Asia in May 2011.

Education in Indonesia falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and
Culture (Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan or Kemdikbud) and the Ministry of
Religious Affairs (Kementerian Agama or Kemenag). In Indonesia, all citizens must
undertake twelve years of compulsory education which consists of six years at
elementary level and three in secondary level. Islamic schools are under the responsibility
of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Education is defined as a planned effort to establish a study environment and educational
process so that the student may actively develop his/her own potential in religious and
spiritual level, consciousness, personality, intelligence, behaviour and creativity to
him/herself, other citizens and the nation. The Constitution also notes that there are two
types of education in Indonesia: formal and non-formal. Formal education is further
divided into three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary education.
Schools in Indonesia are run either by the government (negeri) or private sectors
(swasta). Some private schools refer to themselves as "national plus schools" which
means that their curriculum to exceeds requirements set by the Ministry of Education,
especially with the use of English as medium of instruction or having an international-
based curriculum instead of the national one. In Indonesia there are approximately
170,000 primary schools, 40,000 junior-secondary schools and 26,000 high schools. 84
percent of these schools are under the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) and the
remaining 16 percent under the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA). Private schools
only comprise 7% of the total schools number