INVITATION

Monday, November 6th, 2021
10:00 CET (morning)

The meeting will be held online via:
https://tuwien.zoom.us/j/95478988992?pwd=V1B2ZjZ5bEVSWHBUQWVEa05qV20zUT09

Inclusive education in Islamic schools in Indonesia: Policies, practices and challenges

Dr. Sita van Bemmelen
Online Lecture with Discussion

Indonesia has known special schools (sekolah luar biasa) for severely handicapped children since colonial days. But many ‘diffabled’ Indonesian children and other children with special needs in Indonesia still have no access to education designed to reach their full potential. To widen their access to education mainly private foundations have started to establish inclusive education schools (sekolah inklusi) over the past decade, admitting children with a wide range of learning problems. Recently this has prompted the government to issue regulations intended to support inclusive education. This presentation focuses on the huge and multifaceted challenges to develop policies within the Ministry of Religion to support inclusive education through madrasah, Islamic schools that follow the curriculum of state schools. Madrasah schools often accept children with special needs even though their resources in terms of trained teaching personnel, facilities and funds are severely limited, because state schools usually do not allow parents to enroll their child if it has special needs. Technical assistance to the Ministry has been provided by an Australian funded project since 2015 with mixed results so far. The speaker has been engaged in this project as inclusive education consultant for policy development.

Sita Thamar van Bemmelen has a Ph.D in history and has graduated about education policies during colonial times in Indonesia. She has published a.o. Christianity, Colonization and Gender Relations in Sumatra. A patrilineal society in flux. Leiden, J.Brill – KITLV, 2018; Menuju masyarakat Adil Gender. Bali, Veco Indonesia, Buku Panduan untuk perencana progam dan proyek. 2009 and was Co-editor for Women and mediation in Indonesia. Leiden, KITLV Press, 1994, Benih Bertumbuh. Kumpulan karangan untuk Prof. Tapi Omas Ihromi. Jakarta, UI, 2000. Antara Daerah dan Negara. Indonesia tahun 1950-an. Jakarta, Obor, KITLV, 2011.

She has worked as an inclusive education consultant for the DFAT funded project INOVASI in the period 2018 until mid 2021. Her input mainly consisted of policy recommendations, a field which she has also extensively covered as gender consultant on gender mainstreaming for several projects funded by UN and other bilateral donors since 1998. She has been resident in Indonesia since 1991 and lives with her husband in Bali.

The meeting will be held online via:
https://tuwien.zoom.us/j/95478988992?pwd=V1B2ZjZ5bEVSWHBUQWVEa05qV20zUT09

Meeting ID: 954 7898 8992
Password: AIS-2021