RELEASE statistical news from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) on Monday (17/2) related to the development of Indonesia’s 2019 human development index (HDI) did not feel any echo in the media. It seems that the echo of IPM is inferior to various news, including the corona virus, the omnibus law, the Family Resilience Bill, to the poverty solution a la the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK).
The news is like froth at sea, full of noise and lack of meaning for Indonesia’s development. We should be proud that the 2019 human development index reached 71.92, an increase of 0.53 points when compared with the previous year. This achievement should be celebrated happily because the HDI number is not just a number, but there are also various meanings in it which are very useful for measuring the performance of the existing government.
HDI and their meaning
The United Nation Development Program (UNDP) has regularly issued the Human Development Index (IPM) since 1990 in an effort to measure the development of countries in the world. The HDI rate is a geometric mean of three main components, namely life expectancy, education (average length of schooling and long school expectations), and a decent standard of living.
HDI provides a more comprehensive measure of development achievements because it does not only measure economic achievements, but also covers the basic essence of human happiness about a healthy, long-lived, smart life, and the opportunity to gain knowledge. Why is the announcement of HDI 2019 by BPS worthy of careful celebration?
First, every baby born in 2019 has a hope of being able to live up to 71.34 years. Life expectancy increased by 0.75 years when compared to conditions in 2014. The National Health Insurance Program (JKN) with all the services and financial problems faced has contributed greatly to increasing life expectancy in Indonesia (Dartanto et al, 2017). That is because the JKN program has improved access, especially for the poor to health services, which in turn has improved health status and reduced mortality.
Second, children aged 7 years have the expectation of being able to enjoy education for 12.95 years (almost equivalent to the level of diploma I), 0.56 years longer when compared to children of the same age in 2014. Policies to expand access to education since the reign of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and the continued administration of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has given great hope to Indonesian children to obtain educational opportunities.
The school operational assistance policy (BOS) provides the opportunity for schools to free education costs, while the Family Hope Program (PKH), the Smart Indonesia Program (PIP), and Bidikmisi scholarships provide financial assistance to ensure that every Indonesian child from underprivileged families can enjoy education .
The school’s expectation rate is negatively correlated with a decrease in poverty over the 2014-2019 period. The higher the increase in school expectations, the faster the poverty rate decreases. We hope that school expectations can continue to increase so that Indonesia will have a generation of workers who are more educated compared to the previous generation.
Third, the population aged 25 years and over has on average been educated for 8.34 years or equivalent to grade IX education. The average number of years of schooling increased by 0.61 years when compared with the figure in 2014. The increase in the average number of schools is an achievement as well as an irony for Indonesia because the 8.34 year figure illustrates most of the quality of the current workforce. With the average length of school like this, what can be expected with the industrial revolution 4.0?
Our workforce is currently only sufficient to support the agricultural sector and the medium quality manufacturing industry. Our workforce will stutter to face various changes in the economy at the global level so that Indonesia can be excluded from the global arena if we do not upgrade the skills of existing workers. Therefore, one of the main solutions to increase the capacity and quality of workers aged 25 years and over is to retrain and utilize online learning technology.
Fourth, in 2019, the average expenditure per capita (purchasing power parity) is IDR 11.30 million per year, an increase of 1.4 million (equivalent to 14%) when compared to conditions in 2014.
Indonesia’s economic growth, which although not moving from the figure of 5% per year, contributed greatly to the increase in growth in household per capita expenditure. We all hope that the current government with various policies such as the omnibus law can encourage increased investment and encourage economic growth. However, omnibus law that is not well prepared can cause noise and counterproductive debate, which ultimately suppresses the development of the Indonesian economy.
Fifth, over the past 5 years, our brothers and sisters in Papua have experienced the highest increase in school expectations (AHS) and average length of schooling (RLS) in Indonesia, namely 1.1 years for AHS and 0.89 years for RLS . This increase gives a glimmer of hope for our brothers and sisters in Papua to be able to overcome their backwardness. Borrowing the term Nelson Mandela, education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.
Challenges and hopes
Success is thankful, but we must not turn a blind eye to new challenges as a consequence of increasing HDI in Indonesia, including: 1) inequality of HDI achievement in each province in Indonesia so that in the long run it will continue to increase income inequality in Indonesia, 2 ) an increase in the life expectancy of the people of Indonesia requires a comprehensive social protection policy so that older age groups do not live in poverty. It is necessary to strengthen the pension system and / or old age protection so that they can enjoy long life, noble and happy life, 3) increase in school expectations and the average length of schooling is still of a quantity nature, does not yet reflect the quality of education, while the PISA test shows the ability / the quality of education of Indonesian children is far below that of Vietnam.
The Indonesian government must begin to shift the policy of expanding access to education to expand the quality of education in Indonesia. The policy leap of the Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim deserves appreciation. However, on the other hand, the Minister also needs to understand the bureaucratic context and the need for policies in policy so that the goals of reform are not stopped.
Overnight is not enough to build Indonesia’s human development index. Increasing life expectancy, school expectations, and length of schooling requires consistent, persistent, synergic and collaborative efforts of all elements of the nation, but these four words are rare items for Indonesia. We are too happy and like to be caught up in nonsubstantive debate and noise until we forget the purpose of the nation. We might need to learn from ‘Friend Ambyar’ and ‘Didi Kempot’ how to unite Indonesia in one word.
Teguh Dartanto Vice Dean for Field I, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia and member of the Indonesian Statistics Society Forum | Expert column
Source: Media Indonesia, 24 February 2020