CRPD
Rights Tracker

Government Regulation (PP) Number 13 of 2020 Concerning Reasonable Accommodation for Students with Disabilities (the regulation does not regulate specific targets or timelines, but does regulate budgeting and coordination at the national, provincial, city, and regency levels.)

East Kalimantan Governor Regulation (Pergub) No. 17 of 2023 concerning Standardization of Inclusive Education in Secondary Education. Proposed by disabled persons' organizations, the draft was prepared by PPPDI. The process took up to 5 years to become a Governor Regulation.

• Special Companion Teachers (GPK) are the responsibility of the school, while the Government provides support, including by giving scholarships to Persons with Disabilities (PD).

• In East Kalimantan: The availability of Inclusive Schools is rare, forcing students to look for schools outside the region.

Current situation for persons with disabilities:

1. Law No. 23 of 2014 Concerning Regional Government regulates the authority for the Management of Special Education by the Provincial Government, which impacts the unavailability of Special Companion Teachers (GPK) regulated in National Education Regulation No. 70 of 2009. Special Needs Schools (SLB) become the Resource Center for inclusive education implementation. With the Provincial takeover of SLBs, Basic Education (Primary and Junior Secondary Schools) do not have Special Companion Teachers.

2. School teachers should be able to replace the previous GPKs. Subject teachers are expected to be educated with a disability approach.

3. Inclusive Education in Basic Education is dormant (mati suri), and schools charge the cost of GPK to parents/guardians. Education for Persons with Disabilities can only be carried out in SLBs, which, with the 70:30 Vocational curriculum, is very stereotypical and discriminatory.

4. In Tegal, it is still difficult for persons with disabilities to obtain the right to education. Due to the lack of special needs schools because there is only 1 state SLB and 1 private SLB in the regency; The quota accepted by the state SLB is only 8 students per class, while the private SLB only accepts those who are independent. Children who drool (ngeces) are not accepted; The maximum age limit to register for SLB is 8 years old. Meanwhile, some certain disability levels only start understanding things at age 10, so many children cannot enter SLB due to age; It's deeply concerning for children with CP in Tegal. Many do not go to school.

5. In Papua, Inclusive Education is still a central policy, not yet regional; since the Government Regulation of 2009, there has been no socialization to Regencies/Cities, and Teachers and schools do not understand inclusive schools, either in terms of infrastructure or the inclusive perspective and teaching of children with disabilities.

6. In East Kalimantan (Kaltim): GPK is the responsibility of the school, while the Government supports this, including by giving scholarships to Persons with Disabilities. The availability of Inclusive Schools is rare, forcing students to look for schools outside the region.

7. In Solo, for inclusive schools in one of our assisted regions, most are just a label, the latest GPK update in 2021 shows no GPK teachers, and there was even one inclusive primary school that closed down in 2023 because the number of students was small and it was considered a school for 'crazy children' for accepting children with special needs, leading to many parents moving their children to other schools, as parents feared contagion.

8. In Yogyakarta, a story from an SLB teacher states that "my current 1st-grade students have physical disabilities without intellectual disabilities, but due to lack of knowledge about how inclusive education works? Whether there are special companion teachers, and what if they are bullied*, mothers, in particular, prefer to send their children to the SLB. One (named I) just registered but accessibility at the Primary School where they registered was not accessible, so they immediately registered at my SLB (so they haven't enrolled yet). The other one (named E) also hasn't enrolled. They registered directly at the SLB; the SLB suggested inclusive education, but the mother still wanted to send the child to the SLB, her reason being fear of her child being bullied, and uncertainty about whether there is a GPK at the intended Primary School. Parents do not understand what inclusive education is? So they tend to enroll their children in the SLB, academic year 2023/2024."

   1. Not all teachers in schools with students with disabilities understand disability issues and interaction with persons with disabilities.

   2. Students in Special Education majors often use terms with negative connotations to refer to persons with disabilities (e.g., ketunaan (defect), normal/abnormal, perfect/imperfect, lucky/unlucky). This is because those terms are used in lectures as well. There is a need for an update on disability issues in higher education, especially in the special education major. (related to issue development, terminology, interaction ethics)

Although Regulation No. 48 of 2023 exists, the province of Yogyakarta has not seen the establishment of additional disability service units in the education departments of the regencies within the DIY province. As of 2024, they only exist in Jogja city.

And there is still uncertainty about companion teachers for children with cerebral palsy and fear of bullying in inclusive schools. Here is a short story from a teacher at an SLB in DIY province:

“My current 1st-grade students have physical disabilities without intellectual disabilities, but due to lack of knowledge about how inclusive education works? Whether there are special companion teachers, and what if they are bullied*, mothers, in particular, prefer to send their children to the SLB. One (named I) just registered but accessibility at the Primary School where they registered was not accessible, so they immediately registered at my SLB (so they haven't enrolled yet). The other one (named E) also hasn't enrolled. They registered directly at the SLB; the SLB suggested inclusive education, but the mother still wanted to send the child to the SLB, her reason being fear of her child being bullied, and uncertainty about whether there is a GPK at the intended Primary School. Parents do not understand what inclusive education is? So they tend to enroll their children in the SLB, academic year 2023/2024."

DIY Higher Education Regulation No. 77 of 2022 Concerning the Implementation of Inclusive Education