Indonesia now has a new president and vice president, Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who took the oath of office on October 20, 2024.
In his speech after the oath-taking, Prabowo raised the issue of school neglect across Indonesia.
“Many of our schools are neglected. We must dare to recognize and solve all of these problems,” he said on Sunday (October 20, 2024).
To tackle the issue, he has devised a program that will focus on renovating schools. It has been included in his “8 Best Fast Result Programs” and is targeted to be realized within five years.
The program aims to improve the quality of primary and secondary education. To enhance the quality of graduates and school infrastructure and supporting facilities, top-quality schools will be built in each district.
Such schools will follow the non-boarding and boarding models, and will be integrated from the primary to the high school level.
Under the program, schools that have poor facilities and are in unfit conditions will be repaired.
According to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), 22 thousand schools in Indonesia will be renovated using a budget allocation of Rp20 trillion (around US$1.2 billion).
The government will build top-quality schools that are integrated from primary to high school levels with a budget of Rp4 trillion (around US$257 million).
According to the website of Indonesia Baik, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) pegged the total number of schools — primary and high schools — nationwide at 399,376 in 2023.
The number of kindergartens was recorded at 93,385, elementary schools 148,975, junior high schools 41,986, senior high schools 14,236, and vocational high schools (SMKs) 14,265.
Based on a 2023 Statistics Indonesia report, in elementary schools, the proportion of classrooms that were in good condition stood at 46.56 percent, classrooms with moderate damage 44.74 percent, and classrooms with severe damage 8.70 percent.
In junior high schools, 56.17 percent of the classrooms were in good condition, 38.26 percent were moderately damaged, and 5.57 percent were severely damaged.
In senior high schools, 66.29 percent of classrooms were in good condition, 29.45 percent were moderately damaged, and 4.26 percent were severely damaged.
Then, in vocational high schools, 69.12 percent of classrooms were in good condition, 28.97 percent were moderately damaged, and 1.91 percent were severely damaged.
The Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) has suggested that the program to build top-quality schools and renovate schools be conducted based on the mapping of student needs, such as a school’s location.
Determining a suitable location is important so that students do not have to travel too far to get to school.
The association also said that the government needs to pay attention to private schools since they also play a role in providing access to good education.
Human resources
While school facilities are important to improve the quality of student achievements and graduates, human resources — in this case, teachers — also play an important role in improving the quality of student achievements.
Data from the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (Kemenpan RB) pegs the number of honorary teachers at 731,524 and the number of teachers holding Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK) at 296,084.
The Ministry of Education and Culture (now Kemendikdas) had set the target of appointing one million teachers as PPPKs by this year. However, as of 2023, only 544 thousand teachers had been appointed.
As per the ministry’s records, 1.6 million teachers are not earning a decent income since they are still waiting for their Teacher Professional Education Program (PPG) certification, which is a requirement to obtain the teacher professional allowance (TPG).
Other than human resources, there are still many aspects of education, including the curriculum, that need to be improved to ensure quality student achievement.
In addition, a good education policy is needed to achieve the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision.
It is said, “It takes a whole village to raise a child.”
If used as an analogy for improving student achievement, then it means that it will take efforts and collaboration of all elements, from ministries and institutions to the family, to improve the quality of students and achieve the Golden Indonesia goal.
Renovating schools and building integrated schools in each district, without corruption in the government, be it central or regional, is a good start for the Prabowo-Gibran administration to improve the quality of students.
Indonesia already has everything, all the things needed to make sure the program is implemented well — willingness, strict supervision, efficiency in budget, and law enforcement.
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Editor: Azis Kurmala
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