The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Partners with KPAI to Improve the Quality of Education for Indonesian Migrant Workers Abroad
JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) has partnered with the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) to improve the quality of education for Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) abroad.
Following a working visit to Malaysia late last month, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, Arif Havas Oegroseno, held a meeting with the Chairman of the KPAI, Aris Adi Leksono, to discuss the education of PMI children in Malaysia.
"The meeting with the KPAI is to finalize the scheme for the establishment of courses to ensure and improve the quality of fulfilling basic rights for PMI children in Malaysia," said the Spokesperson II of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to VOI.id, as quoted on Monday (20/4).
In a press statement at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs last Thursday, Nabyl explained the existence of a community learning center (CLC) for PMI children who work in oil palm plantations.
CLC was one of the topics when Minister of Foreign Affairs Havas made a working visit to Malaysia on March 30-31. During the working visit, Minister of Foreign Affairs Havas, among others, met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia and the Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia.
Previously, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Havas in his upload on Instagram last Wednesday revealed a meeting with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the KPAI to discuss education for PMI children in Malaysia.
"We agree on the need for the development of education outside of formal schools through an equality/catch-up package education course," wrote Minister of Foreign Affairs Wamenlu Havas in an upload on Instagram.
"This breakthrough is a strategic step in ensuring the sustainability of education for PMI children and has the potential to be replicated in other Indonesian pocket countries in providing inclusive education solutions," he added.
Quoted from the KPAI website, CLC is a community-based educational institution that provides non-formal education services for children who have difficulty accessing formal schools.
CLC itself faces challenges such as limited curricula, teaching staff, and learning structures that are not yet intact. In addition, its non-formal status often causes learning outcomes to be unrecognized when children return to Indonesia.
"This makes it possible to strengthen cooperation, encourage a more structured non-formal education model, and reflect on certain standards so that children's education rights are still met even though they are abroad," said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Havas.
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education refers to the data of the Sekolah Indonesia Kota Kinabalu (SIKK) as the parent school stating that as of November 2025 there are 240 CLC in Sabah and 62 CLC in Sarawak, with a total number of students who are recorded in Dapodik 16,601 elementary school students and 6,162 junior high school students.
Quoting the SIKK website, according to its characteristics, CLC is divided into CLC Fields and CLC Non Fields. CLC Fields are CLC operating in large-scale oil palm fields. Meanwhile, CLC Non fields are CLC operating outside large-scale oil palm fields, such as shops, church buildings, housing. For now, the majority of CLC operate in oil palm fields.
Non-formal education models such as Community Learning Centers (PKBM) with the A, B and C Package programs are considered by the KPAI to be a reference because they are more flexible and can be adjusted to the child's condition, including those abroad.
Deputy Chairman of the KPAI Jasra Putra said that the use of distance learning technology can also be an alternative, so that with a coordinated system, PMI children can still access education without being hampered by location or administration.