Jakarta, July 22, 2024 – The Center for Education Standards and Policy (PSKP), Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia in collaboration with Article 33 Indonesia held the Forum on Education and Learning Transformation (FELT) on July 22 and 23, 2024 at the Ayana Midplaza Hotel, Jakarta. This annual forum aims to identify, collect, and encourage the emergence of research in the field of education that can be used as a reference for future policy development. The forum, which has sparked high enthusiasm among education observers, raised the theme “Overcoming the Education Gap in Indonesia” in its second year. The forum successfully collected 215 paper abstracts and 31 papers were selected to be presented on the second day of the forum series.
Irsyad Zamjani, Head of PSKP in his speech conveyed the importance of overcoming the problem of educational disparities after the government had previously succeeded in increasing access to education. The challenges ahead, according to him, are related to equal access and quality of education. Santoso, Executive Director of Article 33 Indonesia, highlighted the importance of conferences such as FELT to compile body of knowledge produced by various studies, to be used as input for policy (evidence based policy). Next, the keynote speaker, namely Iwan Syahril as the Director General of PAUD, Dikdas, and Dikmen, Kemendikbudristek, explained the dynamics of reducing inequality resulting from various breakthrough policies, such as New Student Admissions (PPDB) and Independent Learning.
The first day's series continued with the agenda policy dialogue. The first series discussed “Dynamics of educational disparities in Indonesia”. In the first series discussion moderated by Vivi Alatas, Senior Advisor The National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K), Menno Pradhan (University of Amsterdam) presented research results on how PPDB has succeeded in reducing inequality of access, but it is necessary to think about how to mitigate the impact of declining quality in the short term. Zulfa Sakhiyya, an education expert from Semarang State University, highlighted how mainstreaming of values care work on gender in academics to create a more inclusive and equal education system. Arief Anshory Yusuf said that the increase in income inequality in Indonesia is more influenced by changes in the economic structure, not by access to education, so that education expansion must still be carried out. Mohammad Fahmi from Padjajaran University said that it is still necessary to study whether groups with low socio-economic background many go to college.
The second session raised the topic of "Has the Education Policy succeeded in reducing gap education gap in Indonesia?” The session was opened by Suharti’s speech as Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, explaining the challenges and opportunities of the education sector and highlighting three main concerns in equitable education development, namely support for regional government policies, understanding the diversity of regional contexts, and attention to the impacts of climate change.
In the second series of discussions moderated by Itje Chodidjah, who is the Daily Chair of the Indonesian National Committee for UNESCO (KNIU), Anindito Aditomo, Head of the Education Standards, Curriculum and Assessment Agency of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, highlighted that although several policies have not been sufficient to narrow the gap between schools that have advantaged and that disadventaged, so affirmative policies are needed to accelerate the progress of disadvantaged schools more effectively. Javier Luque from The Global Partnership Education (GPE), emphasized that to overcome the education gap in Indonesia, it is necessary to focus on improvements in disadvantaged schools and groups that are not only influenced by socio-economic conditions. Asep Suryahadi from the SMERU Research Institute, responded that although there is no precise measure to explain the education gap in Indonesia, the reciprocal relationship between education and economic gaps shows that the policies implemented are on the right track. Trina Fizzanty as Head of the BRIN Education Research Center, emphasized the need for interventions to compensate for socio-economic gaps that involve various sectors, not just education, to overcome the education gap in Indonesia.
Amidst efforts to address access to education in Indonesia, this forum is a small step to encourage the birth of evidence-based policies that will advance our education for future generations. Let's build stronger educational nodes for a more equitable and inclusive future in Indonesia.
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