Authors: Muhammad Zulfikar, Fifi Fatihatus Salma
Reviewes: Farid Al-Firdaus, Dwi Martutiningrum
In an effort to realize the Golden Indonesia Vision 2045, making Indonesia a united, sovereign, advanced, and sustainable nation, the government has established 8 priority agendas in the Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Panjang Nasional (RPJPN) 2025-2045. Under Mission 1, namely ” Social Transformation”, 1 of the 17 development focuses is “Quality and Equitable Education”. This aims to enhance the competitiveness of human resources (HR) and reduce educational disparities.
As a first step, we begin by examining the state of education in Indonesia. First, disparities in access and infrastructure remain a significant issue in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions. For example, 40% of students in Papua traverse forests and walk for 3 days to reach school (Detik News, 2023). Second, the uneven quality of education is reflected in the low competency of teachers: only 33% of teachers in Indonesia meet national standards through certification (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2023). Third, ineffective funding governance has become a barrier to implementing educational policies. In 2023, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) recorded 30 cases of corruption in education funds, with 40% involving the misuse of the Bantuan Operasional Sekolah (BOS) funds.
Educational Challenges and Government Efforts Through Policies
In addition to the three challenges already discussed, Indonesia’s education system still faces several other issues, such as student mental health, gender discrimination, and technological disparities. However, in this article, we focus on three key aspects, accompanied by their priority order and fundamental reasoning:
1. Governance & Funding With proper management, the potential for fund misuse and inconsistent policies that could damage the education system can be minimized. This, in turn, impacts support for access (infrastructure development) and quality (teacher improvement). Transparent management of funds and policies is the primary foundation. Good governance can minimize the occurrence of budget misuse.
2. Access & Educational Equity Without equitable access, policies will be difficult to implement. On the other hand, access can develop optimally if supported by proper governance and funding.
3. Teacher Quality With good governance, supportive educational access, and an appropriate curriculum, improving teacher quality is expected to enhance the overall quality of education in Indonesia.
Based on the three aspects (categories) above, we attempt to map them in the form of a table containing category, issues, and information:
Next, the government’s steps through Education Policies in addressing these issues are as follows:
From the table above, it is evident that the government has made efforts to address educational challenges. On the other hand, policies require time and processes to become more refined. Therefore, we recommend developing policies by adopting some practices from other countries, such as:
In addition to adopting policies from other countries, the development of education policies also requires support from the public. Without understanding and participation from the community, policies are at risk of failing due to resistance and misperception. Therefore, the government needs to build public awareness. Several efforts that can be implemented include:
1. National Campaigns through Mass Media: Ensure accessibility to 3T regions by using radio and, if possible, organizing direct meetings involving community leaders.
2. Simplifying Messages: Set messages to align with local languages and cultural contexts.
3. “Parent School” Program: Aimed at facilitating public understanding of policies and the importance of education.
4. Engaging NGOs and Communities: Accelerate public understanding through collaboration with non-governmental organizations and local communities.
Conclusion
We conclude that one of the efforts to address the challenges in developing Indonesia’s education system is to focus on three main aspects:
1. Governance & Funding, as the primary foundation,
2. Access & Equity, to ensure inclusivity, fairness, and infrastructure readiness, and
3. Teacher Quality, by preparing competent educators.
In addition, to enhance existing education policies, it is crucial to study policies from other countries as references to improve education policies and achieve efficient and impactful results. On the other hand, special attention must be given to building public understanding to create a two-way process: top-down (government policies) and bottom-up (community support).
Through these efforts, it is hoped that “Social Transformation” can be realized, one of which is through quality, inclusive, and relevant education that adapts to the times without abandoning local wisdom and values.
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