Indonesia is a major refugee transit country in Southeast Asia. As of May 2023, Indonesia hosted at least 12,704 refugees, primarily from Afghanistan, Somalia, Myanmar, Iraq and Sudan. Almost 30% are children.
, and the process is quite fast," a IOM Staff in Batam said during an online interview. The Circular Letter is a letter from the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Number 752553/A.
A4/HK/2019 dated on 10 July 2019 that enables access to education for refugee children in Indonesia. However, poor communication between the central government, local authorities and schools prevents refugee children from enrolling theThe central government relied on the local authorities to share information and strategies about the Circular Letter to the local education service providers.relied on international organizations, mainly the IOM, to bridge communication with and provide information to the refugee community, rather than proactively delivering such information themselves. However, these international organizations websites mainly provide Jakarta-centric information, means that most of the information only covers Jakarta areas and is not helpful for refugees children based in other provinces in Indonesia. They also had limited financial capacities and had little capacity to provide assistance and communicate with refugee populations in person during the pandemic. The poor coordination between the central government, local government and organizations like IOM led to locals schools hesitate to accept refugee children, refugee parents could not get schools information, and in the end, refugee children could not enroll.To conduct remote learning during the pandemic, schools mostly used assignments and online classes. The assignment system needed contact via instant messaging apps , while virtual classes used Zoom or Google Meet. This meant students needed access to the internet and a computer."Everything is becoming more expensive, but the allowance is the same and we cannot work," said AJ, a refugee parent during our interview in Makassar. While the Indonesian government provided free internet access for every Indonesian student, this did not apply to refugee children.between the teachers and students when communicating assignment through messaging apps.If refugee children are going to be included in the Indonesian school system, many stakeholders need to be involved. This includes the government authorities , state authorities, schools and teachers, local education offices and international organizationsto serve as a basis for partnerships involving different stakeholders. This includes ways to overcome language barriers, low financial capabilities and a lack of technology tools that some refugee parents still found it difficult to support their children's enrollment in Indonesian schools.Our research also found children's motivation to go to school was a key factor. There are two crucial factors that affect refugee children's motivation: local students' receptiveness and school teachers' language ability. Both factors must be present in the child's learning to ensure the stability of the refugee children's motivation. In Batam and Makassar, many refugee children did not attend schools because their parents were afraid the school would not accept their children, who are already behind with learning, due to racial differences and language barriers. They were also doubt about the long-term benefits of obtaining education with the Indonesian-specific compulsory subjects such as Pancasila and local arts that will not be used in third countries.Looking ahead, we need to help schools welcome refugee students—and make refugee families aware of the support available.'s access to educational services so that it aligns with Indonesia's national interests and global commitments to refugees. We also need international organizations to maintain their partnerships with the Indonesian government to bridge the communication gap on how to access
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