Fulfillment Of Society’s Constitutional Rights To Obtain Qualified Education Under The Mandate Of Article 31 Of The 1945 Constitution During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Education in Indonesia is something that is to be absolutely owned and obtained by everyone regardless of ethnicity, race, culture, religion, economy, social class and others. The fourth paragraph of the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (UUD 1945) at least mentions “educating the nation’s life” as to indicate that a State is obliged to guarantee and fulfill the educational needs of its people in order to achieve the goal of educating the nation’s life. In addition to the state’s obligation to guarantee and fulfill the educational needs of its people, the community also has the right to request and receive proper education from the state. As incorporated in Article 31 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution which states that “Every citizen has the right to education”, and in Article 31 paragraph (2) which states that “Every citizen is obliged to attend basic education and the Government is obliged to finance it”, of course this is a mandate of the Constitution that the state shall carry out.

The all-digital industrial era 4.0 with very rapid advances in technology and information technology encourages Human Resources (HR) globally to be more up to date and more developed in facing developments and competition in everyday life. Education is also significantly affected by the development of industry 4.0. In the past, we were obliged to learn through books and face to face with teachers, now learning activities can be accessed via the internet. How massive and rapid the development of industry 4.0 is, especially in the Indonesian education sector, so that learning facilities for students have the potential to be very broad and unlimited.

But how is the factual portrait of education in Indonesia? Unfortunately, the portion of needs and adequacy in education in Indonesia is still not evenly distributed. The ability of the community to take education in the city is very different from the ability of the community in the regions, especially in the frontier, remote, and underdeveloped areas (3T). People in the city are now starting to have additional learning materials that are not only accessed through books, but can also be accessed online via the internet. On the other hand, let alone the internet, books are very difficult to obtain for people in the 3T area.

The international disaster of the Covid-19 outbreak destroyed all activities in the world, especially in the world of education in Indonesia. Directions, methods, manner of teaching and learning activities in Indonesia have changed drastically. There is no more face-to-face learning at schools or campuses because now students can only take teaching and learning activities through online virtual classes as directed by the Government through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic it was announced that it had spread in Indonesia. There are many obstacles experienced by the community in teaching and learning activities with this online system, which raises the author’s concern that there will be learning loss or the generation will lose interest in learning.

So, what are the obstacles for the community in the online learning system?

Why is access to education in Indonesia not evenly distributed?

Is it true that the State has carried out the mandate of Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution?

What can the State do to increase education equity?

There are various obstacles experienced by the community in carrying out these online learning activities, ranging from the many people who are not able to have the infrastructure/devices to be able to carry out online learning activities, the lack of understanding and the inability of parents to provide direction/teaching to their children to carry out online learning activities and the absence of electricity infrastructure and internet access in some areas in Indonesia.

Many factors make this situation happen, such as poverty, social and economic inequality, the lack of teaching staff in the regions, especially 3T, uneven development of facilities and infrastructure, as well as infrastructure such as access roads, electricity, internet and socialization of the importance of education.

Of course, this is a difficult task for the State through its Government to truly ensure that the education needs of its people are met equally as mandated by Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution. The author sees that the current process of developing infrastructure to areas, especially in 3T areas, is ongoing. Although the development has not been comprehensive and not evenly distributed, at least from time to time the Government has continued to do so. Of course this will be a long journey for the Government in the future.

According to the author, things that can be done by the Government to improve the distribution of education in Indonesia are as follows:

• Increase the education budget which previously was at least 20% of the APBN and APBD, as contained in Article 31 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution, to around 25-35%, in which the budget allocation is aimed at building more massive infrastructure related to education, because education is a very important sector for the next generation to build the nation and state. Indonesia must catch up, especially in the industrial era 4.0 whose impact is extraordinary, growing rapidly in education in the world.
• Specifically during the Covid-19 pandemic, face-to-face meetings must of course continue to be carried out with strict health protocols, for example previously the number of students in 1 class was around 30 people, then it could be reduced by 50%. The remaining students can take part in face-to-face learning activities carried out the next day in turn. For the author, this face-to-face meeting with teaching staff is very important because it can stimulate the brain, mind, and subconscious of students about how important learning is. What often happens today is that many students are not learning. Many students have learning devices but tend to prefer playing games or social media. Meanwhile, there are also many students who have serious learning intentions, but do not have the devices to study.
• Still specifically during the Covid-19 pandemic, the author believes that it would be better if the Government allocated scholarship funds for the Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) to help the process of teaching and learning activities in the country first, because currently the portrait of Indonesian education during the Covid-19 pandemic is really concerning. Why does the Government continue to open opportunities for the LPDP Scholarship program abroad when there are still many students in their own country who are experiencing difficulties? The author believes that there is no significant urgency in opening up opportunities for students to go abroad. So, especially during the pandemic, at least the government can focus more on fixing the domestic
• Always cooperate and facilitate schools and campuses to continue to carry out community service activities to areas, especially 3T, to provide teaching/socialization to the surrounding community who have never experienced teaching and learning activities, because this activity is very good for protecting the next generation nation.
• No less important is to increase the salary/honor of teaching staff (Teachers/Lecturers). We always think that teachers are unsung heroes. This illustrates how noble the service of a teacher in educating students who will later become the nation’s next generation. Thus, the Government is obliged to appreciate the teaching staff by providing better facilities. Imagine how sad the fact that many teaching staffs in the regions up to the 3T regions are only paid very lowly or some are even willing not to be paid just to help the State achieve the mandate in paragraph 4 of the preamble of the Constitution, which is “to educate the life of the nation”. Therefore, the Government is obliged to pay attention to and facilitate better teaching staff so that love, pride, and loyalty in teaching will arise.

The description above is the author’s opinion on what the State can do to achieve equal distribution of education in Indonesia. This opinion that the author conveys is a form of the author’s love for Indonesia, with the hope that education equality in Indonesia can be achieved, so that the growth and development of a country can also be experienced simultaneously. Hopefully this can open the view of and be a material for readers to reflect on our shared hopes for better education in Indonesia in the future.