Job Discussion Forums

[Imdramayu]

I hope you don't mind me asking another question about Indonesia. Your responses to my thread about using mobile phones in Indonesia was great.

Is public school free in Indonesia for all Indonesians? Is elemenatry, middle, and high school free for all citizens?

[malu]

No. In some provinces elementary and junior high school is supposed to be free - officially - though even in those areas schools often rip off parents for school uniforms and books. To get your child into one of the better state schools in a relatively affluent area will require a surprisingly large bung of cash.

The education ministry (DikNas) is one of the more corrupt departments in Indonesia.

[reddrake]

in Indonesia, no such thing is free education. even when the school fee is free, they will require you to pay for books and uniforms.

If you are interested in getting you kids in Indonesian school, my suggestions is to put them in Nat plus school, because most state own schools may pretend that their school has the cheapest fee, but they will rip you blind with "Uang Gedung" or entrance fee.

At least most of the nat plus school will tell you right at the beginning how much their fee is.

[Imdramayu]

As with last time, I'm thinking about my housemaid. She's from Imdramayu so I suppose her native language is Bahasa. What are the schools (and their fees) like there?

She cannot read or write in her own language because she went to Grade 2 in elementary school (she says). Now, she's single and nobody to protect her and guide her through society (except for family).

Why would parents take their daughter out of elementary school? She is the oldest daughter so maybe they want her to help on the farm or around the house. Nevertheless, to me, preventing a child to be educated sounds cruel. It is condeming the child to a life of (probable) illiteracy -- not being able to read forms/notices/food labels or write application forms or even send money home (which is the case now).

[Nabby Adams]

How old is she? I don't think adults can suddenly rock up to a high school to take the classes.
You gotta feel sorry for some of the cards people are dealt though.

[rayman]

[bule_boy69]

Could have been worse....

I hear some families up there that even sell their kids to brothels.

I remember an Indonesian telling me that her family had paid for their maid's school education. Only afterwards did it occur to me to ask how old the maid was at the time.

In the west there are lots of adult education programs to help people who missed out the first time around. Does anyone know of ANYTHING remotely like this in Indonesia??

[rayman]

[Imdramayu]

She's 27 with no husband to protect/provide for her. She'll spend her life working as a housemaid in various venues until she's too old.

In Indramayu, there must be some job opportunities where literacy would be of benefit. Office jobs, clerical, government jobs, warehouse job, etc. What are the common jobs in Imdramayu?

Is the migratory sex trade in Imdramayu mean that young women are often sold into brothels or to pimps to move out of the area? DO they move to Jakarta, Bali, or other places?

I could help her become literate in English but she'd feel uncomfortable because I'm a man and she's a woman. Also, how much would it help since most housemaid jobs are with non-English speaking families? How transferavke are literacy skills from English to other languages?

[rayman]

Most Indramayu jobs centre around farming rice and farming rice. It's known as the rice belt of West Java.

People also make a living growing other vegetables and fruits (it's also famous for mangos) and selling them at the local market.

Although surrounded by 117 000 hectres of farm land, it has a very small town centre and it's very sedate. with no obvious commercial district. I didn't even see a shopping mall. The men provide public transport in the form of becaks (bicyle taxis), ojeks (motorbike taxis) and angkots. The women may work in restaurants or have a small retail business.

Government jobs would be few and far between. Besides, you'd normally have to either pay a 'fee' or have connections to get government jobs in Indonesia. Very few tousists pass through, so the hotel industry is rundown and severely limited.

The women from here that go into the sex trade move to a variety of places. Most go to Jakarta where they work in bars/brothels for the owner and are provided with attached accommodation and a percentage of their intake. Others go to Jakarta and freelance. Others again go to nearby Cirebon. Many are also sent outside the country through the help of overseas agents with local agents working in Indramayu. These are usually 1 or 2 year contracts and most go to Japan to work as hostesses in karaoke bars. However, even if her and her family would be open to this route, at 27, she would now be considered too old anyway.

I applaud your concern and attempt to find a means to her becoming literate. However, although it would no doubt improve her life from an intellectual perspective, I really don't think it would boost her job opportunities a great deal.

[malu]

[reddrake]

[Imdramayu]

It sounds like people from Imdramayu and thereabouts are caught in a socioeconomic revolving door. They are unable and unwilling to get out of this cycle of poverty.

It just feels wrong. I've heard that the Phillpines' educational system works quite well (maybe the only thing that works well). This is partially because education is put in high priority by parents.

Indonesia and Phillipines economies look similar. According to Wikipedia, their nominal GDP and GDP per capita are close. The GDP (PPP method that considers strength of the currency) puts Phillpines a little ahead but not by that much. If this is accurate, why is the eduation system working in one country and not the other?

Phillipines Indonesia

Population 90.5 million 222 million
GDP $117 billion $ 408 billion
GDP per capita $1351, ranked 117th $1812, ranked 114th

[malu]

The Phillipine education system used to be the envy of other SE ASian countries but not any more. The well-qualified teachers are now mostly working as 'expats' in Indonesia and China while many others work as waiters, nannies and drivers in the Gulf. If you have money there are international quality schools in the Phillipines - as in most other Asian countries - but for your average Joe education in the Phillipines today is crap. Many Fillipinos in the Gulf area tend to talk up the quality of their education system but even a quick google search will show what is really going on.

[Atoms for Peace]