The Urgency of Political Commitment in Formulation Reproductive Health Education Policy

Abstract

Kulon Progo is the first area to have a local content of Reproductive Health Education in the curriculum, that is, since 2014. This was motivated by the high rate of underage marriage and the high level of maternal mortality ratio in the Special Region of Yogyakarta at that time. The Regent of Kulon Progo who served during that period, Hasto Wardoyo, was the party who initiated and directly led this policy-making process. This study seeks to analyze the form of political commitment from Hasto Wardoyo in the policy on Public Health Education by using Boli’s theory of political will criteria, in which political commitment is broadly divided into three groups, namely verbal will, institutional will, and budgetary will. Researchers used qualitative research methods supported by interview data with parties directly involved in the process of making and implementing policies, including the Chair of the Indonesia Union of Teachers, the Chair of the Indonesia Association of Family Planning, the Head of the Education Office, and the Head of the Health Office in the regency. The results of this study indicate that the Regent has shown his political commitment in the sense of verbal and regulation dimensions. However, in terms of institutional and budgetary will, the Regent did not show any form of political commitment, which resulted in the neglect of this policy on Reproductive Health Education after it had been launched.

Received: 20 May 2021 / Accepted: 10 July 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021