Access to Education for Marginal Communities (A Case Study: Access to Education for the Lapak Pancoran Community, South Jakarta)

The limitations to education that Jakarta capital city migrants face have subjected them to engage in informal work for low incomes and to be part of community groups with a variety of social problems, such as lack of access to education for the children. The Lapak Pancoran community is an example of a marginal community in Jakarta that faces the problem of access to education. Policies issued by the central and regional governments of DKI Jakarta are related to access and assistance from education funds. Up to now, a need still exists to reanalyze the implementation of programs and benefits for marginal children. The administrative requirements needed to access education policies/programs, such as identification cards and birth certificates, are considered a barrier for this community. Lapak Pancoran parents’ lack of awareness of education also results in their children lack of spirit to continue their education through available facilities. This study succeeded in revealing the facts surrounding access to education among the Lapak Pancoran marginal society and the effectiveness of government policies related to access to education for marginal communities. This research aims to analyze the effectiveness of government policies on education as a consequence of the government’s responsibility to provide access to education for marginalized individuals in Jakarta. This socio-legal research uses a qualitative approach, namely, in-depth interviews with resources such as the government entities as executors of the policy-the Head of the Pancoran District Government Section, the Head of Pancoran Village Social Welfare, the Chairperson of RT Lapak Pancoran-and three school dropouts and two housewives from the Lapak Pancoran community. The hope is that the results of this research can be referenced by the government when providing access to education for marginal communities in Lapak Pancoran in particular, through a framework of both developing programs and implementing government policies for existing education programs.