MATARAM, Indonesia — Around 73,844 children in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province have dropped out of school, with high uniform costs emerging as one of the main drivers, a senior regional official said on Friday.
The problem is not caused by a lack of schools or teachers, but by economic pressures on low-income families, particularly the cost of school uniforms, said Baiq Nelly Yuniatri, head of NTB’s Regional Development Planning Agency (BAPPEDA).
“Education itself is free. But senior high school uniforms can cost millions of rupiah. For poor families, this becomes a reason for children not to continue their education,” Yuniatri told reporters in Mataram on Jan. 30.
Other contributing factors include children choosing to enter the workforce at an early age, early marriage, and limited access to non-formal education such as community learning centres (PKBM), she said.
To address the issue, the provincial government is pushing for cooperation with the local parliament to include school uniform assistance for low-income families in future budget allocations. Government aid has so far focused mainly on school supplies and learning equipment.
“We will improve the planning so that assistance directly targets the root of the problem,” Yuniatri said.
The NTB provincial government is also placing particular emphasis on senior high school education, which falls under provincial authority, aiming to ensure children complete at least secondary-level schooling.
