JakartaPost-Nov 18, 2024
After seeing various “controversial” initiatives under former education and culture minister Nadiem Makariem, the new government is aiming to reform the education sector by introducing fresh policies. While analysts note it might be necessary, they also warn that too many drastic changes could instead be detrimental to students. Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, during a coordination meeting with education agency heads nationwide last week, demanded a thorough evaluation of a number of problematic policies in the education sector, including the zoning enrollment system. Introduced in 2017 under the leadership of former education and culture minister Muhadjir Effendy, the zoning system was created to ensure more equitable access to state schools and to eliminate so-called “favorite schools” by giving larger allocations of seats for students living nearby. The policy, however, was marred with fraud under Nadiem’s watch. During his early appointment as a minister, Nadiem introduced the Merdeka Belajar (independent learning) curriculum that aims to develop more flexible and effective methods for teachers with a focus on character building and boosting basic competencies in literacy and numeracy. The country’s education system, however, has seen a lack of improvement ever since, with experts noting Indonesia’s declining scores in the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey. In the 2022 PISA ranking, Indonesia scored 355 in reading, 359 in mathematics and 376 in science, placing in the lower half of global rankings. Some attribute the country’s low academic performance to the abandonment of the national exams in 2021, which have long been regarded as a means to boost students’ learning motivation, as well as an evaluation tool. But Nadim’s office blamed the decline on learning loss resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2024/11/18/new-government-education-reform-plans-met-with-cautious-optimism.html.
