- Author: Dr. Sukamdi, M.Sc.
- From: Policy Studies, Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada
Abstract:
One of the problems faced by educational sector in Indonesia was the high level of drop-out rates. Even though 9-years compulsory basic education program in Indonesia was classified as successful, the number of children under the age of compulsory study who only finished the elementary school was still high. The establishment of 12-years basic education program as stated in Nawacita has been another challenge faced in order to reduce the drop-out rate in Indonesia. The government has conducted several policies in educational sector which has showed a good result, but there were still several problems and other policy agenda needed to be addressed. The most important thing to be done was increasing the access, especially of poor people, towards educational services. On the other side, the Government of Indonesia also faced the challenge to increase the quality of education in general. Related to the increase access of people towards educational services, especially BSM program, an interesting issue appeared: whether or not the program has been effective in reaching its goals? What efforts conducted by the government to improve the implementation of the program? Those questions became the important as the setting of this research conducted. This research used mixed methods approach by combining both qualitative and quantitative approach. The design used in the research was sequential explanatory method. In that designed, the quantitative research would be conducted first by using secondary data analysis. The result of the first phase would be followed by the second approach: qualitative. The result of the research shows as follows. First, BSM program could be more effective in eliminating the financial problem faced by marginalized students in Bojonegoro Regency. Second, the efforts showed by the government to provide educational aid through BSM program using cards have not yet showed am encouraging results, Even though the implementation of the program, especially when the card distribution was extended, from 432 households surveyed in Bojonegoro Regency, there was only 18.5% of the households whose children already received BSM cards. From the potential beneficiary children of BSM as the respondent, it was only 15.2% of them who already received BSM cards. Unless they were assisted by KPS cards which could also be used to access BSM fund, the educational aid through BSM could be classified as less successful. Third, the sustainable increase of performance and implementation of BSM program could support the 12-years basic education program, included the vocational and non-formal education, as well as developing the better workforce for the future of Indonesia.
Full Text: