INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT DECISION ON STATE BUDGET FOR EDUCATION SECTOR: AN ETHICAL ISSUE

By: Salahuddin


The allocation of Indonesian state budget (APBN) for education sector has always become a controversial issue. This occurs due to reason that Indonesian government is still reluctant to fulfil the percentage of the budget as already mandated by the Constitution 1945, the highest law in Indonesia. The 1945 Indonesian Constitution (section 31 article 4) requires the government to allocate at least 20% of the APBN for education sector. This allocation is also written in The Act of National Education System No. 20 year 2003 (Section 49 article 1). However, until this year the government spends only 12%.

Many parties critique the government for making such a decision. The Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) claim the law contravened the Constitution by failing to allocate 20% of the state budget to national education. Many claim that the education budget has been slashed significantly, provoking an outcry from many educational experts as well as grassroots educators who say achieving high standard education is impossible here without having 20 percent of the government's budget. And for some, the government decision is seen as unethical decision. The fundamental question is wether or not the government decision is right needs to be analysed.

This essay is constructed to analyse the Indonesian government’s decision on the budget for education by using ethical strategies. In pursuit of this objective, framework from Jewell, Webster, Henderson, Dodd, Paterson, & McLaughin (2008) will be used. Jewell, et al., (2008) propose four strategies; they are: principles, consequences, agreements, and virtues. To provide the context of the topic, the discourse on the budget in education sector and ethical strategies are presented.

(NB. This article was written when Indonesian government had not decided to fulfill the 20% budget in education sector)

At least this artcle is good to undertand ethical strategies in making decision. For more information about this article, feel free to contact me.