Cooperation between UNICEF and The Government of Indonesia regarding the inclusive education for disabled children in Indonesia 2015-2021

Abstract

Inclusive education has been recognized in Indonesia to tackle the imbalance percentage between disabled and non-disabled children in receiving formal education. Indonesia recognizes the need to cooperate with other stakeholders within this ambitious goal. UNICEF has an aligned agenda and framework with Indonesia. Hence, this research aims to answer, “How did the Indonesian government and UNICEF cooperate in promoting inclusive education for disabled children in the context of the imbalance percentage between children with and without disabilities?” Both actors also aim to fulfil Sustainable Development Goal no.4, quality education. The two parties have been cooperating to tackle some challenges such as inconsistency of data collection, negative stigmas, struggles faced by teachers, and structural poverty. The first effort is the partnership between UNICEF, Indonesia, ROTA and FC Barcelona in increasing the quality of inclusive education, piloted in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Keji. Then, with the support of the Australian government, the Indonesian government has adopted the Child Functioning Module created by UNICEF to collect more data about disabled students. These efforts are analyzed by correlating it with the international and national framework--inclusive education sector planning, UN CRPD, and RAN PD to understand the effectiveness.