Jakarta Upholds Global Commitment for One-Year Compulsory PAUD to Prepare Children for Formal Learning

Children at early age should be given stimulus in preparing them for a higher level of education for their growth and development in the future. Countries in the world are seriously thinking about this problem and making global commitment in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 where in point 4.2 it targets all children to attend preschool education or early childhood education (PAUD) minimum one year before entering elementary school level.

PAUD is very important to help children to grow and develop

This commitment was strengthened in World Education Forum (every 15 years) which was held in Incheon, South Korea in 2015. At that forum, Education Ministers from all over the world gathered, Indonesia was represented by Education and Culture Minister, who at that time was Anies Baswedan.

The forum agreed to issue the 'Incheon Declaration' which not only mentioned about agreement to realize 12-year compulsory education, but also agreement to realize a quality one-year compulsory PAUD for entire population in 2030. Now, Jakarta is upholding this commitment.

One Year Compulsory PAUD Service in Jakarta to Prepare Children for Elementary School Level

Jakarta Deputy Governor for Population Control and Settlement, Suharti explained, the context of this commitment is very important for children's future.

"PAUD is very important to help children to grow and develop. This level of education also provides foundation for children's emotional and social development which are necessary for further education at school. It is also strengthen by various studies which found that learning outcomes of children who didn't study at PAUD were significantly lower than students who studied at PAUD," she conveyed as quoted from Jakarta PPID Press Release, on Saturday (3/13).

She added that not all children have the opportunity to participate in early childhood education, especially children from poor families.

"On the other hand, we know that those who need more intervention are poor families where most of them don't have enough knowledge and resources to provide educational stimuli at home. Thus it is important for us to ensure that all children have the opportunity to attend PAUD for at least one year to realize joint commitment of SDGs and Incheon Declaration," she stated.

It is inline with Minimum Standard Service (SPM) of education that must be fulfilled by Regional Government, which is regulated in Permendikbud No. 32/2018 about Technical Minimum Service Standards for Education, in which Article 5 states that PAUD is one type of basic education SPM services and Article 6 states that PAUD Education Recipients are students aged 5-6 years.

Jakarta Education Agency has also socialized One-Year Compulsory PAUD Service for children aged 5-6 years in all regions of Jakarta, starting in the upcoming New Academic Year 2021/2022. Because it is still in COVID-19 pandemic situation, learning will still be carried out online or virtually.

Jakarta Education Agency Head, Nahdiana explained that her side had conducted study on One-Year Compulsory PAUD Service. This study was carried out based on juridical, theoretical, and empirical aspects involving various parties, from Education and Culture Ministry, Jakarta Government, Faculty of Psychology from Universitas Indonesia, and PAUD Teacher Education Study Program from State University of Jakarta.  

"Based on study results, Jakarta is ready to implement it. Hopefully this service can be right on target and able to support children's growth and development optimally, and most importantly it can be a bridge between levels in order to prepare children for higher education levels," she explained.

Jakarta Government also continues to strengthen policies to expand access to good quality PAUD services across Jakarta through regulations. In addition, continuous coaching will be also carried out to ensure implementation of good quality PAUD services in Jakarta.