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lose to 70 percent of special needs children have no access to education, says the Education and Culture Ministry.

The ministry said that only around 116,000 disabled children were currently enrolled in formal schools.

“That number was only around 31 percent of the total number of special needs children in the country, which means that the government should work harder to ensure that these children have the same access to education as any other child would,” The ministry’s director for special education and special services, Mudjito, said on Monday.

Mudjito said that 85,000 physically disabled children were currently enrolled in special schools, while the rest go to inclusive schools — schools with systems that no longer distinguish between children with differences or special talents or potential, from those who study general programs.

Data from the ministry showed that there were currently a total of 2,500 inclusive schools and 1,720 special schools, which provide special treatment for disabled children.

“We would add more training sessions for teachers to develop inclusive education in public schools and campaign to the public about the inclusive schools,” Mudjito said. “Because apparently the most important thing for us to do is ensure that these children are comfortable studying alongside regular children at the same school.”

Emilia Kristiyanti, program manager of Opportunities for Vulnerable Children (OVC) of Helen Keller International Indonesia said that one of the main obstacles faced by the government in providing education for special needs children was the lack of teachers who were equipped to teach special programs.

“Indonesia does not have enough teachers that can teach special education programs. There are only 11 universities in the country that have programs that prepare teachers for special needs children,” Emilia told The Jakarta Post.

The universities include Jakarta State University (UNJ), Indonesian Education University (UPI) and Yogyakarta State University (UNY).

Emilia said that the OVC program, which was designed to help the government provide all children with equal access to education, had created a model to guide elementary school teachers in providing good education to special needs children.

Under the program, which is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a total of 5,706 teachers have been trained for the purpose. The program also converted 25 public schools in six provinces — Aceh, DKI Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java and South Sulawesi — into inclusive schools.

“We are hoping that the government will continue the program that we have developed and reach out to other provinces, including areas in the eastern part of Indonesia even though the program has now concluded,” she said.

Mudjito said that the program had also succeeded in educating more than 16,000 special needs children and initiated 15 new special schools.

Separately, director general of primary and secondary education at the National Education Ministry, Suyanto, said that the new 2013 curriculum would not be implemented at inclusive and special schools.(nad)