Media release

12 August 2008

Australia Indonesia Partnership Reaches 1,000 Schools - 1,000 to go

Today Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr Hassan Wirajuda and I opened Pallanga junior secondary school in Gowa, South Sulawesi, marking the 1,000th school in an Australia-Indonesia Partnership project in which Australia is assisting with the building or expansion of 2,000 junior secondary schools in Indonesia.

Australia is funding the AUD 355 million (3.018 trillion rupiah) basic education program to help the Indonesian Government achieve its objective that all Indonesian boys and girls will have access to nine years of basic education by 2010.

Construction of 1,500 junior secondary state schools and 500 junior secondary Islamic schools is to be completed by the end of 2009.

This will mean 330,000 more Indonesian children will be able to attend a school within easier reach of their homes. Their classrooms will be better places to learn.

The schools are built by local communities themselves and represent their own commitment to their children’s education and futures

Australia is also funding training for teachers so they are better qualified to help their students achieve better results.

School principals, education officials and school committees are being trained to improve the way schools are managed and assistance has been provided to improve the national curriculum and examination system.

The education partnership will also be strengthened by a school twinning initiative that will bring together Indonesian schools, including some in South Sulawesi, and Australian schools that teach Bahasa Indonesia.

The Australian Government is providing additional funding of $700,000 (5.95 billion rupiah) so Indonesian teachers can visit Australian schools and teachers and students in both our countries can communicate over the internet, an initiative supported by the Myer Foundation in Australia.

This will build students’ language skills, develop greater understanding between our countries and our cultures and train Indonesian schools in communication technologies.

The program complements the Australian Government’s announcement in the Budget that we are allocating AUD 62 million (527 billion rupiah) to boost the study of Asian languages, including Indonesian, in Australian schools.

Media inquiries: Mr Smith's office 02 6277 7500 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555