Next Phase of School Construction Project Launched in Indonesia

On 13 May Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Mr Bill Farmer and around 130 national, provincial and district officials, religious leaders and construction development consultants launched the next stage of Islamic school construction under the Australia Indonesia Basic Education Program.

The Indonesian Government is committed to achieving a universal standard of nine years compulsory schooling by 2010.

The Australian Government-funded $355 million Basic Education Program is working with the Indonesian Ministry National Education (MONE) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) to meet this goal by improving the quality and accessibility of basic education for all Indonesian young people, particularly in poor, remote districts lacking in education services.

Australia is funding the construction and expansion of 2000 schools across 20 Indonesian provinces, including 500 madrasah, creating 330,000 new school places.

Mr Farmer said that of these, 46 madrasah have been built to date.

“This is an excellent achievement, and I would like to thank the officials in MORA at the central, provincial and district levels, as well as the many Islamic foundations and local communities that have worked together to make this a reality,” Mr Farmer said.

Announcing that a further 34 madrasah are about to be built, Mr Farmer said that Islamic schools are a large and important part of the Indonesian education system.

In addition, 420 more madrasah are scheduled to be selected and commence construction by the end of this year and we expect 500 madrasah to be constructed by mid-2009.

“Australia will continue to work with Indonesia to provide quality basic education for all students, preparing young Indonesians for further study or the workforce and giving them a better future,” Mr Farmer said.

There are nearly 40,000 registered Islamic schools in Indonesia (about 20 per cent of all schools), which educate about six million students.

Media Enquiries:
Sarah Finney (AusAID Public Affairs Officer) mob. 0812 105 6953