Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
The year 2005 was designated by the United Nations as the Year of Microfinance. Microfinance is considered aan important strategy in poverty reduction and various microfinance services have been opened by government, donor institutions, NGOs and public banks. While there has been significant growth in microfinance activities, a number of issues of concern have arisen.
The government of Indonesia implemented an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program in October 2005 in order to mitigate the impact of a removal of fuel subsidy in the same month. The program is targeted at 15 million poor households, determined by BPS (Statistics Indonesia) using a proxy means testing method.
Since the deregulation of the retail industry in 1998, the number of supermarkets, hypermarkets, and minimarkets (collectively coined “modern markets”) in Indonesia has skyrocketed. Several groups claim that the resulting intense competition with modern markets has caused the decline of the traditional market. In 2006, SMERU conducted a study on the impact of supermarkets on traditional markets in Indonesia’s urban centers.
In an effort to set standards and increase the quality of teachers, in 2007 the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) began to implement a teacher certification program.
Teachers are the determining factor in whether the implementation of education is successful. Research has shown that teachers make the biggest contribution to student achievements. In the midst of limited school facilities and infrastructure, especially in remote areas, the teacher’s role is even more important.
