Muhadjir Effendy (JP/Jerry Adiguna)

Several studies confirm Indonesia is still struggling to improve its education system. As noted by the World Bank, developing countries like Vietnam and China have outperformed Indonesia for the past three years in assessments by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy recently talked to The Jakarta Post’s Moses Ompusunggu about Indonesia’s education system. Below are excerpts from the interview:

Question: What are the current major problems in our education system and the steps to address them?

Answer: There are four problems in education found everywhere, including in Indonesia, these are quality, quantity, access and relevance to the workforce needs and social demand.

The ministry is focusing primarily on widening citizens’ access to education. [Since] 2016 we have initiated programs to ensure not only access but also quality.

By 2019, we aim to make our primary and secondary education systems significantly more relevant to both higher education and industry, as well as to benefit wider society, what we call social demand.

What are the measures to ensure access to quality education?

We are providing ample room for students and their families who previously could not access educational services easily because of economic, structural or geographical problems.

The administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has granted students the Kartu Indonesia Pintar (Indonesian Smart Card) and assisted their families with the Program Harapan Keluarga (Family Hope Program).

All of these focus on supporting students’ nutrition, health and education. Intervention in education means nothing without cooperation from other parties, particularly in the nutrition and health sectors.

Regarding the problem of quality, we have implemented a zoning system and affirmative action [in enrollment] to guarantee spaces for nearby students who face difficulties in accessing education in schools in remote areas.

In the zoning system, the enrollment of new students depends not only on children’s academic qualifications or scores from their previous education level, but rather their proximity to the school is the first requirement. Students living nearest to a particular school have a greater chance of being accepted in the school, regardless of the school’s popularity.

We hope to reduce school favoritism. It would be better if there was no favoritism at all.

What has the government done to improve students’ capability to absorb learning?

Of course the most important aspect is the teacher. We are intensifying efforts to improve our teachers.

Based on my observations, our teachers have become disconnected from teaching standards. For many years, teachers have not received information related to teaching standards, which consists of learning substance, learning process, learning evaluation and teaching competence.

We have changed our methods in teacher training by deploying trainers to regions through professional organizations.

A recent World Bank study cited Indonesia’s below-average results in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Do such results represent the real condition of Indonesian students?

We have to pay serious attention to the scores. But we cannot regard them as results that are academically and methodologically adequate. All research has its weaknesses and flaws, the same goes for PISA.

The PISA scores were results from 2015. There will be a PISA test conducted in this year. Hopefully we can get better results considering our efforts to improve our performance, including the training of teachers in three subjects: reading, mathematics and natural science.

We cannot fully generalize the situation in Indonesia and other countries because Indonesia is a unique country in terms of population, topography and spatial problems.

We have an alternative to PISA, called the Indonesia National Assessment Program (INAP). Admittedly the results were not so different from PISA. But from the INAP results, we concluded we have to work harder to prepare our teachers, school facilities and of course the students.

Indonesia allocates 20 percent of its state budget to education every year. How does the government spend this money?

Many people are unaware that not all of the 20 percent allocated for the education budget is managed by the Education and Culture Ministry.

The 20 percent allocated for education is shared among 20 different ministries and government agencies, amounting to around 37 percent of the budget, while the remaining 63 percent goes to the regions in the form of DAK [special allocation funds] and DAU [general allocation funds].

But not all regional administrations have allocated 20 percent for education in their basic annual budgets, without counting the DAK and DAU.

The ministry does not have full authority to control how the regions manage their education budgets because education is one of several matters where regions have full autonomy. We only create guidelines for regions on how to manage their education budgets.

For me, that [lack of authority] is one of the factors hampering the ministry’s efforts to optimally manage the education sector.

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia