About DBE

The USAID/Indonesia Decentralized Basic Education (DBE) program is a partnership between the Government of Indonesia and the Government of the United States of America under a Strategic Objective Agreement (SOAG) between the Coordinating Ministry for People’s Welfare (Menko Kesra) and USAID.
Beginning in 2005, DBE initially partnered with more than 1,000 elementary schools and 196 junior high schools within 50 districts in seven provinces - Aceh, North Sumatra, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java and South Sulawesi - to raise the quality of basic education in Indonesia through more effective decentralized education management and governance, improved quality of teaching and learning, and increased relevance of education for youth. DBE also supported accountable, transparent, and participatory planning and budgeting at the school and district levels. DBE comprises of three components: DBE1, DBE2, and DBE3.

• DBE1 - More Effective Decentralized Education Management and Governance Program.

  DBE1 provides technical services necessary to improve education planning, management, and governance at the district and school levels. DBE1 tasks comprise of: 1) improved capacity of local government to effectively manage basic education, 2) strengthened education governance related institutions, 3) increased use of information resources to enhance education management governance, 4) dissemination of good practice that was obtained through programs planning, development, and implementation.

• DBE2 - Improved Quality of Teaching and Learning Program.
  
  DBE2 seeks to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Indonesia’s primary schools through a series of innovative approaches designed to strengthen in-service teacher training and improve the school learning environment.
• DBE3 - Increased Relevance of Junior Secondary and Non-Formal Education to Life Skills.
  
  DBE 3 is working with secular and religious junior secondary schools, community learning centers, NGOs, national and local government to improve basic education and develop relevant life skills for students and dropout youth under the age of 18. These skills will better prepare youth for lifelong learning, entrance into the workforce and participation in community development. The program activities engage participation from community and private sectors and are centered on building youth life skills through the curriculum; extracurricular activities to develop practical skills; reducing dropout through promoting transition and completion of junior secondary schools; and increasing the quality of non-formal education by developing approaches which improve the management of non-formal education providers and relevance of non-formal education learning materials to local job markets.