Kemendikbudristek Notes 40,164 Schools Have Students With Special Needs

Illustration. Flag Ceremony in elementary school or elementary school. (Antaranews)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) said there are 40,164 formal education units or schools in Indonesia that have special needs for students as of December 2023.

"In December 2023 the data shows that there are 40,164 schools that have students with special needs," said the Coordinator of the Inclusive Education Working Group of the Directorate of Public Education and Special Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture Meike Anastasia in Media Gathering in Jakarta, Monday.

On the other hand, Meike stated that only 5,956 educational units or 14.83 percent of the total education units have special guidance teachers for children with special needs.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Culture has launched an Inclusive Education Shelf Education program in the form of a Basic Inclusive Education Module to improve teacher competence in fulfilling students' rights to obtain educational services that are inclusive and equivalent.

Inclusion education is an educational system that provides students with special needs and has the potential for special intelligence or talent to participate in learning in one environment with students in general.

The background of the formation of an Inclusive Education Shelf program is the existence of a gap between regulations on inclusive education and conditions in the field, such as based on regulations, it is stipulated that children have the right to quality education.

The mandate of the regulation is inversely proportional to the situation on the ground because it is only 64 percent of the estimated number of children with disabilities who go to school for reasons including costs, learning helplessness, and refusal from schools.

There are also regulations that emphasize the existence of educational accommodation that is appropriate for students with disabilities, but in reality not all local governments have regulations, budgets, and the provision of disability service units (ULD) to accommodate them.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Culture launched the Basic Level Inclusive Education Module as an effort to complement teachers in each education unit with education as well as training on inclusive teaching methods.

This is in line with the goal of the Inclusive Education Level Education program, which produces educators who can realize inclusive learning and education in education units.

This program also has the vision of providing the widest possible access and opportunity for all Indonesian educators to develop professionalism on inclusion education.