UNS — The Constitutional Law (HTN) expert of the Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Dr. Agus Riewanto, highlights the state’s intervention in the fulfillment of the right to education for every citizen, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. This material is presented during the National Education Day Webinar, the ‘Dynamics in Fulfillment of Constitutional Rights to Education During the Pandemic,’ organized by the Central Administration for the Constitutional Law Lecturer Association (APHTN-HAN), Monday (3/4/2021) afternoon.
He states that the government must be responsible for the fulfillment of education access because the rights for education are an absolute means necessary for the fulfillment of other rights. Moreover, Dr. Agus Riewanto adds that education provision of complete education a prerequisite for obtaining the right to a decent job and livelihood. During the virtual event via the Zoom Cloud Meeting and APHTN-HAN OFFICIAL Youtube Live Streaming, Dr. Agus Riewanto also discuss universal human rights. He states that human rights are basically the fundamental rights that existed within a person and are the dignity of creatures created by God Almighty. “The rights are unified with a person since they are born and is natural for them,” said Dr. Agus Riewanto.
Specifically, Dr. Agus explains the various types of rights that should be fulfilled and protected by the state government, such as the right to express opinions, freedom of religion, and freedom of movement. “There are also political rights, economic rights, and social culture rights,” he added.
Dr. Agus Riewanto, who serves as the Director of Consultation and Legal Aid Institute (LKBH) Faculty of Law (FH) UNS, states that the government has authorized to take any intervention toward the rights for education and at the same time is responsible for fulfilling the rights for its citizen. Because in the state government, the fulfillment of the right to education from a human rights perspective is categorized as a positive right, and the right to education will not be realized if there is no state intervention.
“The central government must be involved in this matter. The more involvement toward the good regulation, distribution, control, and regulation is better. The intervention does not aim to shift the objective of education to the government objective and interest, but to humanize humans,” Dr. Agus Riewanto stressed.
With no intervention from the government, Dr. Agus Riewanto was concerned with the liberalization and privatization of education. It will be detrimental to the quality of education as there will be an invisible hand that will take the education rights from the young generation by limiting education for the rich. He hopes the government will be able to answer the requirement to provide constitutional rights in education by committing to Articles 31 and 32 of the 1945 Consitution on education and culture.
A quality education policy that the government made is reflected in the provision of services and facilities for quality education and ensuring the delivery of education for every citizen without discrimination.
“An assurance on the availability of education funding for the implementation of education for all Indonesian is also needed,” he concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Yefta Christopherus AS
Editor: Dwi Hastuti