Examining the effectiveness of prodira policy on improving human development index at Province of Gorontalo

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of an education program for the local people policy - Program Pendidikan untuk Rakyat (PRODIRA) in the improvement of Human Development Index (HDI) in the Province of Gorontalo. Through PRODIRA the local government has already issued the regional budget (APBD), which the impact of the budget allocation will be measured by the HDI. The research approach employed a qualitative method of semi-structured interview, observation, and focus group discussion on key informants, which involved in compilation and implementation of the PRODIRA in Gorontalo Province. The study result showed that the PRODIRA provided acceleration on educational equity for the population aged 16-18 years, which enrolled at the level of secondary education. PRODIRA has also significantly impact in increasing the Human Development Index of Gorontalo Province during 2012-2016, that it proved by the increasing the literacy rate from 95% to 99.81%, the average number of school years from 8 years to 12.88 years. The result also revealed that the PRODIRA is able to reduce levies in some schools and it increase acceleration of all education services to school age 16-18 years through accelerated national education service. The research recommended that the central government needs to encourage local governments to innovate in developing the PRODIRA in order to achieve the target of to ards the nation of Indonesia is independent and highly competitive in 2025.