Puan Questions The Government's Obligation Behind The Case Of Many School Dropouts

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, highlighted the number of children dropping out of school due to economic problems. Puan reminded the state to be obliged in terms of citizen education, especially the provision of access to education by the Government.

"The increase in the quality of human resources begins by providing equal and quality access to education, as the key to efforts to create a prosperous and advanced society in Indonesia," said Puan, Wednesday, November 1.

Puan is concerned about the phenomenon of many children dropping out of school. The biggest factor is the family's alarming economic condition.

Based on data from Susenas processed by Bappenas, in 2022 school-age children (7-18 years old) who did not attend school reached 4,087,288 children. This figure increased from 3,939,869 children in 2021.

Meanwhile, regarding children who drop out of school, it is known that there are 3,847,780 children in 2022. The details are 491,311 school-age children who drop out in the new school year, then 252,991 children drop out of school in the middle of level and 238,320 school-age children who do not continue to higher education levels in the new school year. Then 3,356,469 school-age children were recorded to have dropped out in previous school years.

"We don't want the number of children dropping out of school in Indonesia to increase in length," said Puan.

Puan emphasized the urgency of increasing and equitable access to education that must be carried out by the Government. He reminded that access to education for the people is a constitutional mandate.

"The government is obliged to pay for the basic education of every citizen. This is the mandate of the 1945 Constitution which must be carried out by the Government," said Puan.

"And I ask the Government to immediately take concrete steps to overcome the problems of many of our children dropping out of school," continued the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture.

Puan said that every child has the right to have equal opportunities to obtain quality education without any problems. He reminded that education is the capital for the creation of superior human resources in the country.

According to Puan, every policy taken by the Government must ensure that every child has the same opportunity to get a decent education, regardless of the economic condition of his family. He also encouraged a special program for eradicating children dropping out of school outside of educational programs that currently exist such as School Operational Assistance (BOS) and the General Allocation Fund (DAU) absorption program.

Because of the problem of children's education faced by the community is not just free school fees. There are various other obstacles such as parents being unable to buy uniforms, ATK, and other school needs. This does not include the costs that parents have to pay to their children," said Puan.

"Education and equitable access will also help ensure that education remains affordable, even in remote areas," he said.

"Therefore, the construction of schools in areas that may have a smaller number of students or are in border areas should be of more concern to the Government," continued Puan.