Indonesian school rules and discrimination in education against pregnant students: A challenge for human rights implementation

Abstract

The study explored the Indonesian school rules for pregnant students. It examined whether, and if so, how pregnancy affected their right to education and future prospects, using a human rights perspective. The data were collected through literature studies. The result demonstrated that most Indonesian schools used a point system to calculate the student’s infringement (including pregnancy) before sentencing her/him. Most of the school rules in this study stated that students who were pregnant, impregnated, or got married would be returned to their parents, only a few schools stated explicitly in their rules to allow the pregnant students continuing their studies due to a certain circumstance. Though the Indonesian government has ratified several international covenants on human rights and issued national legislation to guarantee the rights of the child to education, discrimination against pregnant students remained due to gender bias in the Indonesian community and the lack of the Indonesian state to revoke such discriminatory school rules.