Implementing Agency

Directorate General of Non-Formal Education and Youth,
Ministry of National Education
Jalan Jenderal Sudirman, Jakarta 10270
Phone: 62-21-5725033
Fax: 62-21-5725487

LAPAK-ITI, Jakarta Bay
Bishop of Padang, Siberut Island
[Contact Details]
UNESCO Jakarta Office
United Nations Building, Jalan Thamrin 14, Tromolpos 1273/jkt, Jakarta 10012
Phone: 62-21-3140066, 3141308
Fax: 62-21-3150382
E-mail: Jakarta@unesco.org

Literacy and NFE situation
There are three NFE main programmes that are currently executed: illiteracy eradication, 9-year basic education, and continuing education.  Illiteracy eradication employs functional literacy approach targeting mainly the 10-44 age cohort.  Approximately 9% of people aged 10 years and over are still illiterate.  To support 9-year basic education programme, Learning Package A and B are used as NFE measures.  Package A is the non-formal mode for primary education, while that for junior secondary education is Package B.  These Packages gained equal status to their formal schooling alternatives in 1994.  Package C, equal to senior secondary school, has been started recently.

CLC Initiatives and Features
The Directorate General of NFE and Youth has developed NFE programmes for the disadvantaged population, which took the form of a CLC project in 1998.  There are now more than 800 CLCs supported by the Directorate throughout the Indonesian provinces.  NGOs, community organizations, Muslim schools and other local organizations have helped implement this project.  The Directorate has promoted CLCs to other ministries since 1999, and succeeded in getting attention of the President of the country.  Since 2001, the central government has determined the CLC as one of the institutions for poverty alleviation.

Two pilot CLCs have been also initiated by NGOs at the end of 1999 with support from UNESCO.  One was initiated by Bishop of Padang in Siberut, Western Sumatra, targeting ethnic minorities in remote areas, and another was started by LAPAK-ITI in Jakarta Bay, an urban coastal zone community with serious environmental problems. Siberut CLC had a development-focus and harnessed local wisdom and technologies, which Jakarta Bay CLC concentrated on environmental education and awareness.  There projects were supported by local organizations such as universities, NGOs, religious and other institutions, and they cooperated closely with the local communities.

Main Activities
Main activities organized through CLCs are functional literacy, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), equivalency programmes, skills training, entrepreneurship training, and women education.  Target groups are mostly from the low income family around the CLCs.  Generally, the main supervision is done by its founder, e.g. individual, NGO, religious institutions, formal education institutions, private companies.  For CLCs which receives supporting funds from the government, supervision is done by direct NFE committee. 

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of CLC in Indonesia is its integrated concept of learning, community empowerment, and business in one model using holistic approach.  Indonesia has been going through the transition in government management systems from highly centralized to highly decentralized management.  This has caused some unclearness in dividing the role of central, province and district government and so in supervision and monitoring and evaluation system for CLCs.

Future Plans
It is suggested:

• to develop academically a generic model which integrates poverty alleviation, community empowerment, business and sustainable development in one concept, and to start a project for exploring this model in depth from the existing business enterprise.
• to make CLC as a movement in developing the community.  It is important to spread and maintain the spirit in serving, developing and making ‘alive’ the people/community in CLC personnel capacity building.