The Unfinished Promise: Adult Learning and Upskilling as a Strategy for Social Mobility in Indonesia

• In Event: Development and equal opportunities in Southeast Asia

Proposal

In the 1970s, the Indonesian Government made a high-stakes decision to build 61,000 primary schools across the nation in five years. This ambitious project was called SD Inpres. This was an opportunity for millions of children to access formal education.
Today, the national enrollment rate for elementary education has reached nearly 100%, but the secondary education enrollment rate has dropped to 81%, and the high school graduation rate is even lower. Data from the National Statistics Agency of Indonesia indicate that the root cause of this loss is attributed to the number and distribution of schools: 149,000 elementary schools, 42,000 middle schools, and 28,000 high schools and vocational schools.

When the policy stopped at primary schools, so did the students. By 2018, almost 60% of the workforce had only a junior secondary education or less, and more than 60% of the workforce worked in the informal sector, facing significant barriers to socio-economic mobility.
With socio-economic disparities widening, this phenomenon could become a source of instability. This may foster a climate of friction that can escalate into conflict and disrupt the conditions necessary for sustainable peace. Studies have found that countries with greater inequalities between groups have a substantially higher risk of conflict. Unequal access to education can increase the risk of conflict, and in turn, conflict can worsen existing educational disparities.

Based on a systematic literature review and secondary data available, we evaluate (1) What current strategies are implemented by the Indonesian Government to retrain underqualified adults in Indonesia and reduce disparities? (2) How does the implementation of expanding access to adult learning and retraining improve the socio-economic status of adults in Indonesia?

We outline how adult training and upskilling programs can provide a sustainable and effective approach for advancing social mobility, particularly for underqualified adults in informal employment. In doing so, we share insights from successful upskilling initiatives and contribute to the international discussion of adult education. The results of this research will be proposed to policymakers in Indonesia.

Authors

• Mutiara Annisa Baswedan, Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Muhammad Radhiyan Pasopati Pribadi, Harvard Graduate School of Education