One month after their adoption, members of the teachers’ union Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia have debated ways to advance global priorities, especially the post-2015 sustainable development goals focused on education and gender.
From 29-30 October in Jakarta, the Education International (EI) Asia-Pacific (EIAP) regional office conducted a capacity-building workshop on “Promoting gender global post-2015 priorities with a focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 5”, which gathered 25 participants belonging to the Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia(PGRI) in the West Jawa, Mid Jawa and Yogyakarta regions.
“Despite considerable cultural and religious gaps, participants have shown maturity and courage to guarantee that all Indonesian children have free public and quality education,” stressed EI Regional Coordinator Pathma Krishnan.
The workshop aimed at:
- Raising awareness on SGD 4 - Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning - and 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls;
- Developing strategies to promote youth participation and promote gender equality;
- Undertaking all necessary actions for an efficient implementation of the post-2015 agenda and goals;
- Empowering women and girls in union, education and society; and
· To discuss strategies and activities in making education goal as a standalone goal.
Krishnan started by making a presentation on SDG 4. Work groups discussed strategies and presented them, with participants noting that the strategies have to be plausible for EI and PGRI.
For example, one of the strategies concerns ways to advocate, campaign and collaborate to ensure that the target 4.1 - by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes - is intertwined into the PGRI on-going work. Participants suggested ways to encourage the local governments, at the provincial, district, and city levels, to allocate the funds for free education at primary and secondary level.
On the second day, Krishnan presented SDG 5. After group work on strategies and activities for future work, participants acknowledged the need for advocacy, campaigns and collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure a high level of awareness on violence against women and girls in public and private spaces, trafficking and sexual exploitation, bullying and all other types of violence. The planned activity is to encourage the government to provide facilities catering to the needs of women and girls in public and private spaces, such as nursing areas, children’s safe play rooms, toilets and changing rooms, or safe public transportation means.
Issues covered by SDGs 4 and 5 are ongoing issues in the country, she said, adding that participants were enthusiastic, and felt that PGRI, the government and other stakeholders must work together and monitor closely progress on SDG 4 and 5.