Bantuan Siswa Miskin (BSM): Indonesian Cash Transfer Programme for Poor Students

IPC Research Brief no.46/2014​

Authors : Dyah Larasati and Fiona Howell

The Government of Indonesia places a high priority on the universal provision of, and access to, education. Universal education is considered a cornerstone for future economic development and shared prosperity. Over the past decade, the Government of Indonesia has introduced a number of major reforms to make universal education a reality. In 2003, the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) began implementing the Nine-Year Compulsory Basic Education Programme (Wajib Belajar Sembilan Tahun) with the aim of encouraging school-age children to complete junior secondary education. In 2005, a school-based education subsidy programme known as School Operational Assistance (Bantuan Operasional Sekolah—BOS) was introduced to provide grants directly to primary and junior secondary schools on a per student basis. The BOS grants were designed to cover direct educational costs but not indirect costs associated with education (i.e. transportation costs, uniforms etc.), which are recognised as being a major barrier to access for lower-income households.

This Policy Research Brief is jointly published by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), Brazil, and Tim Nasional Percepatan Penanggulangan Kemiskinan (TNP2K), Indonesia.
Tim Nasional Percepatan Penanggulangan Kemiskinan (TNP2K) is a Ministerial Team chaired by the Vice-President of the Republic of Indonesia with a mandate to coordinate the strategic policy for poverty alleviation programmes in Indonesia. TNP2K assumes a role of a policy think tank to promote the evidence- and knowledge-based policymaking process.

TNP2K is established by the Government of Indonesia and supported by the Government of Australia through the Poverty Reduction Support Facility (PRSF).

To request copies of the paper or for more information on the paper, please contact the TNP2K Knowledge Management Unit (kmu@tnp2k.go.id). The paper is also available at the TNP2K website (www.tnp2k.go.id).