Education in Indonesia

By Indonesian law, all Indonesian citizens are required to complete six years of primary schooling and three years of secondary schooling, typically taken between the years of six and fifteen. Before they reach the age for primary schooling, they commonly attend play group at age two, and kindergarten at age four years, but this is not mandatory. An average of 90% of Indonesians are able to read and write the Indonesian language today, which is a fairly high rate of literacy.

There are government schools, private and Islamic schools, also known as madrassahs. Students in the Indonesian public school system typically take courses over the years in various subjects as diverse as Information Technology, Religious Studies, Civics, Sociology, Economics, English, and a choice of French, German or Arabic. The schools in Indonesia are administered by the Indonesian Ministry of National Education, except for the Islamic schools, which fall under the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia.

The state object of education in Indonesia is to inculcate in students the good traits in personality and behavior, intelligence, creativity, spirituality and consciousness, in order to best be of benefit to himself or herself, fellow Indonesians, and the nation at large.