Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education called for wider support from the government, academics, parents, businesses, and local communities to strengthen early childhood education (ECE), which it says is essential to building a high-quality education system.
Nia Nurhasanah, the ministry’s director of ECE, said the national vision of “Quality Education for All” serves as a key foundation for Indonesia’s 2045 Golden Indonesia agenda, with early childhood learning at the center of long-term national development.
“Quality education must be inclusive, adaptive, and participatory. ECE is the starting point for a child’s learning journey and the foundation of nation-building,” she said here Saturday.
Nurhasanah explained that quality ECE must be holistic and integrative, combining education, health, nutrition, nurturing, and protection to ensure every child receives services that are friendly, relevant, and meaningful.
The government is currently exploring an extension of compulsory education from 12 to 13 years, which would include one mandatory year of preschool. Nurhasanah said there are three strategies to achieve this goal: expanding access, improving quality, and strengthening governance.
“The key to the success of all priority programs of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is universal participation,” she emphasized.
Maila Dinia Husni Rahiem, a professor at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, underscored the urgency of investing in early childhood development. She noted that more than 80 percent of a child’s competence growth takes place before age six.
She added that investment in ECE yields the highest financial rate of return— seven percent to 10 percent annually—citing Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman.
“ECE is a window of opportunity that will close. We are investing directly in the brains of children who will become the future leaders of Golden Indonesia 2045,” she said.
