The policy of 12-year (primary and secondary level) compulsory education that is free and inclusive in Indonesia is stated in the Ministry of Education (MoE) regulation (No. 47/2008) and also in the National Medium-Term Development Plan 2020-2024.

This policy is in line with SDG-4 target (4.1) to ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. However, this policy has not been widely enforced by the government because the implementation depends on the fiscal capacity of the local governments.

Parents need to pay tuition fees and cover the costs of education especially at the secondary level. This reality in education worsened, during the pandemic when the number of poor people, out of school students, early marriage of school-age girls, and violence against women are increasing.

Also, there are 18 million students in Islamic boarding schools who are not recognized by the state and formal education system. Based on this contexts , the main goal of this project is to strengthen civil society engagements to realise a 12 year complusory education that ensures equitable, inclusive, gender responsive and quality education for the marginalised groups.

To achieve the goal, the project identified three specific objectives.

1. Effective civil society representation and engagement to ensure that plans and policies developed and implemented are responsive to the needs of boys and girls, youth and adults especially the marginalized.
   The outcomes of this objective are: a. NEC engages and represents diverse actors and the most marginalised people. b. NEC participates in Local Education Group (LEG), gender-responsive education sector planning, parliamentary committees, and other policy forum.
2. Active people participation from a diverse range of civil society groups in the generation of research and evidence on quality, equity, gender dimensions, financing and education system reform.
   There are three outcomes of this objective: a. Produce relevant documentation/analysis in credible research, data collection and evidence building to inform education sector policy dialogues b. Raise awareness and community participation through the media campaign and mobilise the public, in education policy advocacy. c. Improve the capacity of national education coalition and members to strengthen advocacy and engagement in gender responsive education.
3. Engage in education forums at national, regional and global levels to ensure education agenda and advocacy relating to SDG 4 and GPE. The outcome of this objective is stronger links between national, regional and global CSO voices on implementation of SDG 4.

The beneficiaries of the project:

• Civil society organization (CSO).
• National Education Coalition (NEC).
• Marginalised groups: the poor, women, and children with disabilities.
• Government (local and national level).
• Parliament (local and national level).

The strategies/learning approuches:

• Capacity building for CSO at the local and national level.
• Creating evidence-based advocacy from document analysis and policy research.
• Manstreaming issues and mobilise the public through the media. 4. Building champions in the government: exchanges with local governments on progressive education policies.