Indonesia continues to struggle with the uneven distribution of teachers, both in numbers and qualifications, particularly those capable of teaching the higher-order thinking skills assessed by PISA.

As criticism mounts over the central government’s responses to disasters across Indonesia, Jakarta’s perceived responsiveness to everyday concerns has emerged as an unlikely bright spot in the public eye.

The latest blaze is the second wildfire to hit the Mount Bromo area in about a month, underscoring heightened fire risk during the dry season.

As the search continues, lawmakers and transportation experts call for a thorough investigation into the incident, highlighting longstanding concerns over the adequacy of Indonesia’s sea vessel inspections.

Choppy waters with high waves and strong winds were impeding the search on Monday, said Mohammad Syafii, head of the National Rescue Agency (Basarnas).

The Virgo Transport 8 ship carrying 243 people went missing in bad weather early on Sunday, the rescue agency said. Authorities have rescued 108 people from the ship, which was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

Tasked to enforce local regulations, the city’s public order agenc currently has only 5,000 personnel, less than the 12,000 needed to launch round-the-clock patrols across the capital city.

The Virgo Transport 8 -- which authorities said carried 213 passengers and 30 crew -- lost contact with its shipping company early Sunday after departing from Surabaya in East Java.

Greenhouse gas emitted from forest and peatland fires across Indonesia has reached the same amount of 74 coal-fired power plants, potentially hurting the country’s “net sink” aim in the forestry sector by 2030.

Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka has become the highest state official to apologize for mass food poisoning caused by the free nutritious meal program in Karo regency, North Sumatra. 

Fires on peatlands have unique characteristics because extinguished fires can continue to burn underneath the surface.

A passenger ship carrying 243 people was reported missing after losing contact early on Sunday during bad weather, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said.

Initial information revealed that the orangutan babies are aged between one and five years old and were found in healthy conditions.

According to authorties, the incident occurred on Wednesday as a group of 11 employees from the Jayawijaya Agriculture Agency were returning to the regency capital of Wamena from Muliama district, some 20 kilometers away.

Indonesia is emerging as a new operational hub for transnational online gambling and cyber scam syndicates, according to the National Police, as a crackdown on scam centers in mainland Southeast Asia pushes some criminal networks to seek new locations.

The eruptions involved Mount Semeru in East Java, Mount Ili Lewotolok in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Mount Ibu in North Maluku.

Children accounted for around 20 percent of all wildfire-related respiratory illnesses as 12.5 million people in seven provinces were affected by the widespread forest and land fire, according to the Health Ministry.

The Indonesian Immigration Directorate General also decided to ban the Australian, identified as BA, from entering Indonesia for 10 years.

The search for five journalists and three boat crew members who went missing near Mount Anak Krakatau entered its fourth day on Friday, with authorities expanding the search area to include nearby islands within the volcano’s restricted zone.

The decision to place students in a military environment has raised concerns among civil society groups, who described it as part of the growing trend toward the “remilitarization” of civilian space.

The court also sentenced each firm with a Rp 1 billion (US$56,447) fine after finding them guilty of receiving benefits from the corruption case surrounding two venture capital arms of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to the agricultural tech start-up.

Currently there are seven piers on each side of the crossing but more piers are needed to ease traffic to and from Bali, especially large trucks. 

Fires have been blazing across vast stretches of forest and peatland throughout the country, causing hazardous emissions to surge, particularly in the hardest-hit provinces on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan.

In Central Kalimantan, prolonged drought has dried up parts of the Barito River, one of the longest and largest rivers in the Kalimantan region, bringing river transportation to a standstill.

The Communications and Digital Ministry is pushing Meta to fully comply with the country’s Child Protection in Digital Space Regulation, known as PP TUNAS, following a landmark ruling in the United States that found the company’s child safety measures lacking.

The next presidential election may still be three years away, but several potential contenders have already begun making early moves as President Prabowo Subianto’s approval ratings slide and criticism of his government mounts.

The coalition, which includes the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) and Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), urged the government to halt the program’s expansion and immediately undertake comprehensive reforms.