Education requires endurance and perseverance to bear fruit.  One must pass several tests to succeed.  The education process, therefore, stretches like a long and winding road to its destination.   

A human needs education because he or she will go through tribulations that require wisdom, knowledge and competencies.  Like it or not, those virtues are actually gained from education.   

“Education” here does not only mean formal learning in schools and universities but also any form of enlightenment that graces your mind in this life, from infancy to adulthood.  Due to the eclectic configuration of education, several nations, including Indonesia, decided to develop a minimum standard in education services. 

On Dec. 14, 2018, without much fanfare, the education and culture minister issued Regulation No. 32/2018 on the technical standards of minimum education services.  Unfortunately, the regulation has failed to live up to the expectations of many education stakeholders in the country.   

It is true that the new rule amends the old regulations, such as Education and Culture Ministerial Regulation No. 23/2013 and No. 15/2010, but they are all the same in setting low targets. 

For instance, the rule does not depart from the previous regulation’s approach of focusing on the inputs of education.  It shies away from the important aspects of education: process and outputs. 

In fact, a 2018 study by Blane Lewis of the Australian National University shows that our minimum standards in service in education lacks prioritization; unintentionally, the hazy framework could save the government from direct accountability for any failures.   

The input-based standards work like so: Elementary school students must have books, proper classrooms and competent teachers.  Good books, good infrastructures and good teachers — that’s it.   

If we follow process-based standards, then it will be how the books are used in the classrooms that are designed nicely for students and teachers, and more than that, how teachers use that particular book in learning activities.  

We can stretch these standards further to being output-based with other indicators; students’ academic achievements, teachers’ competency and creativity, as well as nice school facilities, have encouraged students’ and their parents’ engagement with classroom teachers and school principals.

 The above Ministry has actually been more than ready to apply the process-based approach.  Supported by the European Union and the Asian Development Bank, the Elementary and Junior High School Education Directorate General conducted a study and training program called Capacity Development for the Implementation of Minimum Standard Services for Elementary Education (PKP-SPM).

It reviewed the implementation of educational standards in elementary schools across 108 regencies and municipalities in 16 provinces. 

The training was conducted from 2014 to 2017, involving 200,000 stakeholders.  The results were promising: Around 72 percent of the participated schools improved their ability to meet the minimum standards. 

The successful training program and its embedded study have inspired optimism among communities, local governments and civil society. The best practices were compiled in a book titled Collection of Best Practices in SPM Fulfillment.  The new ministry regulation, however, undermines that excitement.  

Good books, proper classrooms and reliable teachers are insufficient.

The Education and Culture Ministry must listen to and compromise with the Home Ministry on the unpreparedness of local governments. It seems the central government has doubts about the capacity of regional administrations. 

It is true that 108 regencies and municipalities have demonstrated good results as shown by the PKP-SPM program; that is around 21 percent of 514 regencies and municipalities, and 47 percent of 34 provinces. Despite the positive wind of change, the central government prefers to play it safe by keeping the input-based approach.  

Good books, proper classrooms and reliable teachers are insufficient for the global challenges ahead.  Amidst the disruptive era, Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the phenomenon of 21st century skills, Indonesian students — as part of the demographic bonus in 2030 — must work harder and learn smarter to cope with the extraordinary challenges.   

In fact, there are still many Indonesian children whose literacy and mathematical abilities are below the minimum threshold, as measured by international tests such as the Program for International Student Assessment and Trends in the International Mathematics and Science Study. This is despite enrollment rates for elementary and junior high schools reaching 106 and 101 percent, respectively, and 93 and 76 percent, respectively, for pure participation rates. 

Students and teachers must utilize good books, including digital learning materials available on the internet, and employ all potential collaboration with their peers from all over the world.

Public funding must be managed prudently; this is also getting scarcer and scarcer.  Both central and local governments must start thinking about governing as marshaling support from all sides of the community. Gunung Kidul regency in Yogyakarta, for example, established the Corporate Social Responsibility Distribution Forum to provide aid for local school improvement projects. 

We must not be afraid of higher and more difficult aims because that is the essence of a learning curve.  We overcome problems by our courage to deal with and answer limited existing resources, such as budget constraints and mediocre bureaucracy. 

 Michelangelo was right. It is a disaster for this nation when all of us feel that we have successfully achieved some aims that are in reality too low, too easy and useless.  Why? As a nation, we are becoming oblivious to real threats, realistic problems and crucial issues in education and other public sectors.  We are numb to progress.

 ____________________

The writer is a lecturer of communications, education management and public policy at Paramadina University and the Jakarta State University.

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