He conveyed this at the Education World Forum (EWF) at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, in London, England, which took place from May 7–10, 2023.
“The three major breakthroughs were driven through Independent Learning,” he said in a statement received here on Wednesday.
According to the minister, the first breakthrough in Indonesia's education system involved replacing subject-based exams with the National Assessment (AN), which emphasizes the process of developing students' literacy and numeracy skills as well as students' critical thinking skills.
The AN also underlines the commitment of educational units to becoming learning environments that are free from bullying, intolerance, and sexual violence, he added.
The second breakthrough is the Independent Curriculum, which can be implemented by educational units voluntarily, he informed.
If earlier, it took five to seven years to implement the new curriculum, this time, the ministry is doing it in a different way, namely by offering schools to implement it according to their needs and voluntarily, the minister said.
"In just one and a half years, 80 percent of the total educational units in Indonesia have registered to apply the Independent Curriculum," he highlighted.
He stated that the Independent Curriculum reduces learning content by 30 percent to 40 percent to emphasize in-depth learning and allocates 20 percent for project-based learning.
Moreover, in Independent Learning, the government is providing flexibility to teachers to adjust the pace of the learning process according to the needs and abilities of students, Makarim disclosed.
The third breakthrough is related to university admissions and concerns changes in mechanisms for new student enrolment, namely from subject-based tests to aptitude tests, as efforts to realize more holistic learning, he said.
"We removed subject-based tests for student admissions and linked them to learning at the school level," he explained.
In addition, Makarim said the Independent Learning transformation is also focused on increasing teacher competence, namely focusing on pre-teacher education in abilities that are relevant to practice, not just limited to theory.
Meanwhile, the minister said the Teacher Mobilization Program in Independent Learning aims to create a new generation of school principals and supervisors, and does not just focus on competence.
"Teachers involved in the program are teachers who are capable to take risks, innovate, and understand the fundamental philosophy of education," he added.
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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul H, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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