Minister Of Social Affairs-Menag Teken MoU Successfully Eradicate Poverty And People's Schools

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) cooperates with the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) to make the People's School and poverty alleviation programs a success by signing a memorandum of understanding.

"Our presence here is for coordination in order to strengthen cooperation, especially in carrying out its duties related to poverty alleviation and People's Schools," said Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf in a written statement in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 11, which was confiscated by Antara.

He explained that the synergy between the ministries he leads and the Ministry of Religion is very important because the work direction of the Ministry of Social Affairs is in line with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution Article 34 which reads that the poor and abandoned children are cared for by the state.

On the other hand, the handling of the poor also includes a spiritual realm. As stipulated in Law Number 13 of 2011 concerning Handling the Poor, it is stated that the form of handling the poor includes developing personal potential in the form of mental, spiritual, and skill guidance, in which there is a spiritual value closely related to the field of duty of the Ministry of Religion.

"Well, what is rarely quoted by many parties is article 1 paragraph 1 of Law Number 11 of 2009 concerning Social Welfare, it is stated that social welfare is a condition where material, spiritual, and social needs are met. So there is a spiritual spirit, so that's my presence here in order to develop intervention in the spiritual field and must be with the Ministry of Religion," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

He added, in addition to the issue of social welfare, the cooperation established with the Ministry of Religion also includes plans to establish People's Schools throughout Indonesia which are intended for children from poor families.

"So we were assigned by the President to organize the People's School. This People's School is a school whose students come from poor and extreme poor families," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

He emphasized that the presence of public schools is a form of the state glorifying the poor and facilitating the rise of wong cilik.

"Because during the 100 years of Indonesia's independence, without the revival of wong cilik and the rise of poor families, social welfare will not be achieved," he said.

Departing from this basis, the state then provides access to special education for children from poor families with the concept of dormitories and free from elementary to upper middle education.

The Minister of Social Affairs said that in fact there is an intergenerational poverty transmission in the Indonesian people. Many parents with low education who live in poverty tend to have children with low education in the future.

On this basis, people's schools will function as breaking the poverty transmission chain.

"We want to present intelligent, intellectual graduates who are tough in character and mentally strong. Children who live in poverty if given the opportunity, will become tough children," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

He gave an illustration that every year there are 100 People's Schools with a capacity of one thousand students who can be built, so for five years there will be 500 thousand poor children who become agents of change to change their family's standard of living.

"This is later on how we can stop poverty transmission through the People's School education process," he said.

He said the role of the Ministry of Religion was very vital in the success of poverty alleviation programs through the People's School. One of them is by utilizing the potential of madrasas and religious schools that are protected by the Ministry of Religion.

As yesterday was proposed by the people's madrasas. So later if there is a People's School, in the Ministry of Religion there will be a People's Madrasah," said the Minister of Social Affairs.

On that occasion, the Minister of Religion (Menag) Nasaruddin Umar stated that cross-sectoral cooperation was needed to break the chain of poverty, especially from the education sector.

He said the Ministry of Religion has 42 thousand madrasas/religious schools that can be optimized to support People's Schools, as a priority program for the President.

The most real people's school is madrasas. Of the 42 thousand schools, 60 percent are madrasas managed by the public/community that need to be developed again through the People's School Program," he said.

He considered that madrasa was very worthy of being used as a People's School considering its existence in the community.

The results of the meeting and signing of the MoU between Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf and Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar will be followed up by each technical team that will collaborate to make poverty alleviation programs successful through educational intervention, namely the People's School.