Equality in Education and Employment for Sustainable Development of Diverse Indonesia: Enhancing Equal Opportunity, Volunteerism, and Philanthropy

While Indonesia prides it self on its diverse population, diversity can also create disparity in educational access and success among students, generating gaps of participation among people of different economic, gender, and geographical backgrounds. Studies show that inequality can lead to tension, instability and conflicts, impeding the achievement of SDGs. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of inequality in Indonesian education and employment opportunities and to suggest additional ways of constructing equality. For this purpose, this study will provide an analysis that relies on statistics, surveys, and reports on education and employment inequality in three constructs: class (rich vs. poor) which is related to geographical areas (urban vs. rural) as well gender (male vs. female). This paper describes the challenges in these three areas, reviews efforts and policies for equality, and suggests transparency and accountability as well as the promotion of volunteerism and philanthropy for the success of Indonesia’s sustainable development. Keywords—Education and Employment, SDGs, Equal Opportunity, Volunteerism, Philanthropy