THE EFFICACY OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOR IN INDONESIA AND TIMOR-LESTE

Indonesia and Timor-Leste have actively ratified the international human rights instruments such as CRC, ICESCR as well as ILO Conventions. One of the fundamental human right is the right of education that mandated by the constitutional frameworks of Indonesia and Timor-Leste. Indonesia mandates twelve years of compulsory education, while Timor-Leste requires nine. On the other hand, child labor play important role hindering the right of education. In Timor-Leste, 16% of children are working in the service and agricultural sectors. Although as not as high in Timor-Leste, an estimated 1.76 million of the nation's 58.8 million children are engaged in child labor. These figures starkly contrast with the constitutional protections afforded by Article 28B and 31 of Indonesia's 1945 Constitution and Article 18 of Timor-Leste's Constitution, which explicitly protect children's rights and guarantee state-financed education. This study analyses the legal frameworks of both nations using comparative socio-legal methodology to assess the efficacy and implementation gaps their respective compulsory education programs. The findings indicate that while robust legal and constitutional mandates exist, their enforcement is severely undermined. Key impediments identified include pervasive poverty, the persistence of child labor in hazardous conditions, and deeply embedded sociocultural norms that frame children as economic assets rather than as rights-holders. This study concludes that a significant discrepancy exists between de jure protections and de facto realities, positing that legal mandates for education are insufficient without concurrent, targeted interventions that address the complex socioeconomic drivers of child labor.