When Natural Resources Become a Curse for Education




Have you ever noticed a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon where regions rich in natural resources tend to have low levels of education? This phenomenon is not merely coincidental, but rather a systemic pattern that has long been rooted in Indonesia's development dynamics, particularly in the eastern regions of this country.


When Education Becomes a "Threat" to Extractive Development

There is a development phenomenon that is rarely discussed or avoided due to its sensitivity. Even in a focus group discussion (FGD) that I attended, featuring a social researcher from a certain university that I deliberately won't name because their recommendations seemed not to side with the people, they revealed a disturbing reality.


In a region in Eastern Indonesia, there is a government plan to build a large industry that would sacrifice customary land, more precisely customary forests. The interesting part is the different responses from two different areas. There are groups of indigenous communities who agree because they believe the government is only "borrowing" their land. However, there are also those who resist critically because they realize that the environmental damage impacts in the future are far more detrimental than the compensation the government would provide.


The pattern that emerged is very surprising: 

those who accept are groups with low educational backgrounds (maximum elementary school graduates), while those who reject are those with at least high school education. A researcher in that discussion even said that industrial development increasingly faces resistance when communities can easily access education.


Shouldn't this be an alarm? These researchers actually missed the most essential aspect of development in a democratic country, namely people's participation and improvement of development policies that are pro-people and pro-enviroparticipati


From Glory to Educational Decline

Historical reflection brings us to a deeper question: 

how is it possible that a region that during the Dutch East Indies era was able to produce capable officials in government, actually experienced a drastic decline in education level percentages after independence? Something ironic when this decline coincided with massive development of mining industries around that region.


This phenomenon is not mere coincidence. Professor Bagus Muljadi has identified a negative correlation between Natural Resources (SDA) and Human Resources (SDM). In regions with high natural resources, community education tends to be low. And when those natural resources are depleted, new social problems emerge where low education makes job choices outside the industrial sector increasingly narrow.


Unveiling Resource Curse Theory in Indonesian Context

What we witness is actually a manifestation of the Resource Curse theory developed by economist Richard Auty in 1993. This theory explains why countries or regions rich in natural resources actually experience slow economic growth and lagging human development compared to regions poor in natural resources.


In the context of education, Resource Curse operates through several mechanisms. First, the availability of natural resources creates a rent-seeking economy that doesn't require high skills. Why pursue higher education if jobs in the extractive sector are already available with relatively adequate salaries? Second, local governments that rely on revenue from natural resources tend to neglect long-term investment in education because short-term profits from resource exploration feel more tempting.


The Dutch Disease theory proposed by economists W. Max Corden and J. Peter Neary is also relevant to understanding this phenomenon. When the extractive sector dominates the economy, other sectors including education become neglected. Human resources and capital flow to sectors that provide quick profits, while investment in education that requires decades to show results is considered non-priority.


When Ignorance Becomes "Profitable"

Let us honestly face this uncomfortable reality: 

are there certain interests that benefit from low education levels in communities in natural resource-rich areas? Political economy theory developed by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson in "Why Nations Fail" provides an enlightening perspective.


Extractive institutions, according to them, tend to maintain the status quo that benefits certain elites. Highly educated communities have the capacity to question policies, demand transparency, and actively participate in decision-making. Conversely, communities with low education are easier to mobilize and control.


Empirical evidence from the FGD I attended further strengthens this hypothesis. When researchers complained that high community education complicates industrial development, doesn't this indirectly admit that there is a preference for communities that are "uncritical"?


Social Capital Theory and Community Trust Degradation

Pierre Bourdieu and James Coleman through social capital theory provide an additional analytical lens. Social capital refers to networks of social relationships that enable communities to function effectively through norms of trust, cooperation, and participation.


In the case I observed, dangerous social capital fragmentation occurred. Communities split into two camps based on education levels, which then influenced their attitudes toward development. Low-educated groups tend to have high trust (blind trust) in government authority, while highly educated groups develop critical trust based on risk-benefit analysis.


Robert Putnam in "Making Democracy Work" explains that healthy social capital requires a balance between trust and critical ability. Extreme educational inequality actually damages this balance and weakens communities' collective capacity to face change.


Viewing Development Traps Through Dependency Theory

Dependency theory developed by Andre Gunder Frank and later refined by Fernando Henrique Cardoso provides a structural perspective that cannot be ignored. In the Indonesian context, regions rich in natural resources are often trapped in dependency relations with centers of economic and political power.


This pattern creates what Frank calls "development of underdevelopment" where development actually perpetuates backwardness. Large-scale investment in the extractive sector is not accompanied by local human capacity building, so communities remain in marginal positions as providers of manual labor.


Education, in this context, is actually considered a "threat" because it can break the dependency chain. Educated communities have the ability to question why they are only spectators in development on their own land.


Conspiracy or Systemic Consequence?

The hanging question is whether what we witness is the result of planned conspiracy or unplanned consequences of a flawed system? The FGD and scientific journals I have read make me see the dark side of development that might be more systemic than we imagine.


Antonio Gramsci through his concept of hegemony provides a nuanced answer. Hegemony is not merely domination through violence, but domination through consensus produced culturally and ideologically. When communities "willingly" give their land in exchange for development promises, isn't this a subtle form of hegemony?


Michel Foucault in his analysis of power/knowledge is also relevant here. Knowledge is not just information, but power that can liberate or shackle. When access to quality education is limited, both explicitly and structurally, what happens is limitation of communities' power to question and change their conditions.


Toward Inclusive and Sustainable Development

So, what should we do? Amartya Sen through the capability approach provides clear direction: true development is development that expands human abilities and freedoms to live the life they value.


In the Indonesian context, this means we need a development paradigm that no longer sees education and critical community awareness as obstacles, but as prerequisites. Informed and critical community participation is a guarantee that development will be sustainable and just.


Paulo Freire through his critical pedagogy reminds us that true education is an empowerment process that enables communities to "read their world" and change it. When communities have the ability to critically analyze environmental, social, and economic impacts of a development project, they will not easily fall for empty promises.


At the end of this phenomenon... 

As a closing, let us reflect together: 

will we continue to let this paradox continue? Will our natural wealth continue to be a curse for dignified human development?


The answer to this question is in all our hands. As academics, development practitioners, or ordinary citizens, we have a responsibility to ensure that development is no longer understood as resource exploitation that ignores humans, but as a process of sustainable quality of life improvement.


The contradictory correlation between natural resources and human resources is not an unchangeable fate. With strong political will, appropriate policies, and active community participation, this curse can be broken. It's time we make natural wealth a capital for building intelligent, critical, and dignified Indonesians.


Are you ready to be part of this change?

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