Government Encourages School Dropouts to Continue Their Education Through the KIP

17 April 2015

In an effort to improve the welfare of the poor and vulnerable, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) is expanding education grants through the Smart Indonesia programme. With the expanded scope, GoI is making an effort to bring poor children who have dropped out from school back into the education system.

“The Smart Indonesia programme aims to reach children who are not currently in the formal education system. The only requirement to receiving assistance through the programme is for children to enrol in formal or nonformal schools as soon as they receive their Smart Indonesia Cards (Kartu Indonesia Pintar or KIP),” said Agus Sartono, Deputy for Education and Religion, Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (PMK) during a media briefing for the socialisation of the Smart Indonesia programme at PMK on April 14, 2015. Nonformal schooling includes Study Group (Paket Kelompok belajar; PKBM) A, B, or C, training institutions and courses that are registered with the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) or with the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA), including those conducted at Islamic boarding schools.

Kamarudin Amin, the Director General of Islamic Education, MoRA, explained further that this programme not only reaches out to students for public and Islamic schools but also to those students registered in Islamic boarding schools. “Students in Islamic boarding schools who have been taught to read the Koran from when they were 16 years old to 21 will also receive the KIP. They too will be entitled to an educational grant,” said Kamarudin.

The Smart Indonesia programme provides an educational grant for school-age children (6-21 years old) from families which hold the Family Welfare Card (Kartu Keluarga Sejahtera or KKS). To confirm eligibility for the programme, GoI through MoEC and MoRA will distribute the KIP to over 20.3 million children including those who have dropped out of school. “With this programme, the GoI is trying to reach four million dropouts from poor families, including children who live on the street and those engaged in child labour,” said Thamrin Kasman, Secretary of the Directorate Generate for Elementary Development, MoEC.

The government has set seven priorities for who should benefit from KIP. Those entitled to the KIP include (i) recipients of the Cash Transfers for Poor Students (Bantuan Siswa Miskin or BSM) as derived from the Social Protection Card (Kartu Perlindungan Sosial or KPS) set by MoEC in 2014, (ii) school-age children from poor families who have

the KKS/KPS but have thusfar not received BSM, (iii) school-age children whose families are enrolled in the Conditional Cash Transfer programme for Poor Families (Program Keluarga Harapan or PKH), (iv) children living in orphanages, (v) students in Islamic boarding schools who are beneficiaries of BSM Madrasah, (vi) children who are vulnerable to dropping out from school due to financial hardship and (vii) children who have already dropped out of school.

To determine KIP beneficiaries, the government is using data from the Unified Database (UDB) which uses the 2011 Social Protection Programme survey (Program Perlindungan Sosial; PPLS). The PPLS 2011 data was updated using the results of village and urban ward deliberations (musdes/muskel) in 2013 and 2014. “Additionally, we will add data on children of PKH beneficiaries who have not as yet been registered in the UDB, students in Islamic boarding schools and students in theology schools,” explained Sri Kusumastuti Rahayu, head of Cluster I for family-based social assistance.

The media briefing today is a part of a series of socialisation activities to support the implementation of the Smart Indonesia programme through the distribution of KIP. The series of socialisation activities is facilitated by the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K) and includes (i) radio campaigns on 3 national radio stations to reach 114 districts/cities, (ii) media briefings in 3 cities, (iii) distribution of posters in strategic locations, (iv) field visits to regular and Islamic schools in 110 districts/cities in Indonesia, and (v) distribution of information through short message service (SMS) to programme implementers and KKS/KPS beneficiaries.