Brief History of SLP development
In Indonesia the term “speech therapy” (In Bahasa Indonesia we called it “Terapi Wicara”) has been adopted to define speech therapy services. The speech therapy profession was first introduced around 1971 by Johasa Sunarti Nasution, Dr. Hendarto Hendarmin Sp. THTLK, and Dr. H. Teguh A.S. Rankasuma, Sp.S who later founded the Bina Wicara Education Foundation (Lembaga Pendidikan Bina Wicara). These pioneers started to establish the Akademi Terapi Wicara (Speech Therapy Academy) where a six-month speech therapy training program including the Speech Correction Courses A and B was launched between 1971 and 1972 to improve knowledge of healthcare professionals who work with patients with communication disorders in the country.
Education
When the Speech Correction training courses ended by the end of 1972, an evaluation of the implementation and results of the courses was carried out, resulting in the decision to upgrade the course to a three-year educational program. From early 1973, the Akademi Terapi Wicara (Speech Therapy Academy) in Jakarta started to offer a speech therapy degree program. Participants in this program included high school graduates who are accepted as first year students, while those who had graduated from the Speech Correction A and B courses were immediately accepted as second year students. In 1985 Bina Wicara Education Foundation further collaborated with the Medical Rehabilitation Foundation (Yayasan Bina Wicara Indonesia) to offer a combined program including speech and physical therapy programs. In 1987, Bina Wicara Education Foundation remained to support the speech therapy training program only at the Akademi Terapi Wicara (Speech Therapy Academy).
In addition to the Speech Therapy Academy that offers one three-year program (called Diploma 31 of Speech Therapy), there are three other colleges in Indonesia that offer speech therapy programs across various cities in Indonesia. The second is Health Polytechnic in Surakarta, which started to offer three types of speech therapy programs in 2006. The programs include a Diploma 3 which takes three years to complete, an Applied Bachelor of Speech and Language Therapy, which can be completed in 4 years, and a Transfer Program from Diploma 3 upgraded to Applied Bachelor which ranges from one-and-a-half to two years. The third college is Polytechnic Al Islam in Bandung and the fourth is College of Health Sciences STIKES Mercubaktijaya in Padang, established in 2012 and 2017, respectively. Each college offers a Diploma 3 of Speech Therapy program.
Licensure system
From 1988, speech therapy education was offered officially under the guidance of the Minister of Health (No. 221/Kep/Dinakes/XII/88) through the Republic of Indonesia Minister of Health Decree. All college graduates must pass the speech therapy national examination before they practice. Through Government Regulation Number 32 of 1996 concerning Health Personnel, Chapter II, Article 2, speech therapy education graduates are named speech therapists and are recognized as health workers who are included considered as physical therapy personnel together with physiotherapy and occupational therapy. A college degree in speech therapy, registration certificate, and license are required. To practice, individuals with the registration certificate need to renew their license every five years.