Curriculum Reform amid Indonesia’s Educational Decentralization: Policy, Practice, and Outcomes

Susy Alestriani Sibagariang, Osco Parmonangan Sijabat

Abstract

This paper evaluates the impact of Indonesia’s 2021 curriculum overhaul on secondary-school learning outcomes within the country’s long-running decentralization agenda. Although greater fiscal and administrative autonomy for provinces and districts is expected to raise school quality and efficiency, robust evidence on student achievement remains scarce. Drawing on nationally representative data and employing propensity-score matching to mitigate selection bias, we find no statistically significant gains in mathematics or reading scores attributable to the new curriculum. The analysis nevertheless uncovers two robust patterns: students who attended education programmes consistently outperform their peers, and pronounced inter-regional achievement gaps persist almost two decades after decentralization commenced. Taken together, the results suggest that curriculum change alone is insufficient to boost learning and that early-childhood provision and territorially-targeted policies should be integral to Indonesia’s future education strategy.

 

Keywords: curriculum reform; educational decentralization; learning outcomes; propensity-score matching; Indonesia.

 

https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.52.5.11


Full Text:

PDF


References


Channa, A. (2016). Popularity of the decentralization reform and its effects on the quality of education. PROSPECTS, 46(1), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-016-9380-7.

Jeong, D. W., Lee, H. J., & Cho, S. K. (2017). Education decentralization, school resources, and student outcomes in Korea. International Journal of Educational Development, 53, 12–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.12.003.

Kristiansen, S., & Pratikno, P. (2006). Decentralising education in Indonesia. International Journal of Educational Development, 26(5), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2005.12.003.

Pradhan, M. P., & de Ree, J. (2014, July). District governance and student learning in Indonesia (Economics Working Paper Series No. 397). Manila, Philippines: Asian Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2479722.

de Ree, J., Muralidharan, K., Pradhan, M., & Rogers, H. (2015, December). Double for nothing? Experimental evidence on the impact of an unconditional teacher salary increase on student performance in Indonesia (Working Paper No. w21806; p. w21806). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w21806.

Yeom, M., Acedo, C., Utomo, E., & Yeom, M. (2002). The reform of secondary education in indonesia during the 1990s: Basic education expansion and quality improvement through curriculum decentralization. Asia Pacific Education Review, 3(1), 56–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03024921.

Subijanto, S. (2010). Prinsip-prinsip dan efektivitas desentralisasi Pendidikan dalamrangka meningkatkan mutu dan relevansi pendidikan. [The principlesand effectiveness of education decentralization in order to improve the quality and relevance of education]. Jurnal Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, 16(5), 532-549. https://doi.org/10.24832/jpnk.v16i5.484.

Guo, S.Y., & Fraser, M.W. (2014). Propensity score analysis: Statistical methods and applications (vol 11). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Brewer, D., & McEwan, P. (2010). Economics of education. San Diego, CA: Elsevier.

Setiawan, A., Widjaja, S. U. M., Kusumajanto, D. D., & Wahyono, H. (2020). The effect of Curriculum 2013 on economics learning achievement: Motivation as mediating variable. Cakrawala Pendidikan, 39(2), 444-459. https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v39i2.30279.

Wahyuni, F. (2015). Kurikulum dari masa ke masa (Telaah atas pentahapan kurikulum pendidikan di Indonesia). [Curriculum from time to time (An analysis of the stages of the education curriculum in Indonesia)]. Al-Adabiya, 10(2), 231–242. http://ejournal.kopertais4.or.id/mataraman/index.php/alabadiyah/article/view/2792.

Alhadza, A., & Zulkifli, M. (2017). National examination and the quality of education in Indonesia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 4(21), 1–12. https://journals.scholarpublishing.org/index.php/ASSRJ/article/download/3613/2286.

Strauss, J., Witoelar, F., & Sikoki, B. (2016). The fifth wave of the Indonesia family life survey: Overview and field report (Working paper WR-1143/1-NIA/ NICHD). Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. https://doi.org/10.7249/WR1143.1.

Cordero, J. M., Cristóbal, V., & Santín, D. (2018). Causal Inference on education policies: A survey of empirical studies using PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS. Journal of Economic Surveys, 32(3), 878–915. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12217.

Adelson, J. L. (2013). Educational research with real-world data: Reducing selection bias with propensity scores analysis. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 18(15), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.7275/4nr3-nk33.

Rosenbaum, P. R., & Rubin, D. B. (1983). The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika, 70(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.2307/2335942.

Xie, Y., Brand, J. E., & Jann, B. (2012). Estimating heterogeneous treatment effects with observational data. Sociological Methodology, 42(1), 314–347. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081175012452652.

Fan, X., & Nowell, D. L. (2011). Using propensity score matching in educational research. Gifted Child Quarterly, 55(1), 74–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986210390635.

Hong, G. (2012). Marginal mean weighting through stratification: A generalized method for evaluating multivalued and multiple treatments with nonexperimental data. Psychological Methods, 17(1), 44–60. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024918.

Rosenbaum, P. R., & Rubin, D. B. (1984). Reducing bias in observational studies using subclassification on the propensity score. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 79(387), 516–524. https://doi.org/10.2307/2288398.

Nakajima, N., Hasan, A., Jung, H., Brinkman, S., Pradhan, M., & Kinnell, A. (2019). Investing in school readiness: A comparison of different early childhood education pathways in rural Indonesia. International Journal of Educational Development, 69, 22–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2019.05.009.

Kurniawati, S., Suryadarma, D., Bima, L., & Yusrina, A. (2018). Education in Indonesia: A white elephant? Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, 35(2), 185–199. https://doi.org/10.1355/ae35-2e.

Suryadi, B. (2013). Evaluasi penyelenggaraan ujian nasional tahun 2013. [Evaluation of national examination 2013]. http://repository.uinjkt.ac.id.

Fitrani, F., Hofman, B., & Kaiser, K. (2005). Unity in diversity? The creation of new local governments in a decentralising Indonesia. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 41(1), 57–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074910500072690.

Hofman, B., & Kaiser, K. (2004). The making of the ‘big bang’ and its aftermath: A political economy perspective. In J. Alm, J. Martinez-Vazquez, & S. M. Indrawati (Eds.). Reforming intergovernmental fiscal relations and the rebuilding of Indonesia. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 3152. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781845421656.00007.

Skoufias, E., Narayan, A., Dasgupta, B., & Kaiser, K. (2011, March). Electoral accountability, fiscal decentralization and service delivery in Indonesia (Policy Research Working Paper Series 5614). The World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-5614.

Leer, J. (2016). After the Big Bang: Estimating the effects of decentralization on educational outcomes in Indonesia through a difference-in-differences analysis. International Journal of Educational Development, 49, 80–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.02.005.

Rahman, A. A. (2019). Decentralised education policy in Indonesia: Intended outcomes and remaining challenges. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 6(2), 30–47. https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v6i2.240.

Qoyyimah, U. (2018). Policy implementation within the frame of school-based curriculum: A comparison of public school and Islamic private school teachers in East Java, Indonesia. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48(4), 571–589. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1334536.

Wajdi, M. B. N., Kuswandi, I., Faruq, U. A., Zulhijra, Z., Khairudin, K., & Khoiriyah, K. (2020). Education policy overcome coronavirus, A study of Indonesians.

Amirrachman, A., Syafi’i, S., & Welch, A. (2009). Decentralising Indonesian education: The promise and the price. In J. Zajda & D. T. Gamage (Eds.). Decentralisation, school-based management, and quality. Netherlands: Springer, pp. 141–157. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2703-0_8.

Suryadarma, D. (2012). How corruption diminishes the effectiveness of public spending on education in Indonesia. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 48(1), 85–100.https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2012.654485.

del Granado, F. J. A., Fengler, W., Ragatz, A., & Yavuz, E. (2007, July). Investing in Indonesia’s education: Allocation, equity, and efficiency of public expenditures (MPRA Paper No. 4372). Jakarta, Indonesia: The World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-4329.

Chen, D. (2011, September). School-based management, school decision-making and education outcomes in Indonesian primary schools (Policy Research Working Paper No. 5809). Word Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-5809.

Kusumawardhani, P. N. (2017). Does teacher certification program lead to better quality teachers? Evidence from Indonesia. Education Economics, 25(6), 590–618. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2017.1329405.

Sirait, S. (2016). Does teacher quality affect student achievement? An empirical study in Indonesia. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(27), 34–41. https://ssrn.comabstract=2846795.

You, Y., & Morris, P. (2016). Imagining school autonomy in high-performing education systems: East Asia as a source of policy referencing in England. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 46(6), 882–905. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2015.1080115.

Lestarini, A. H. (2014, 17 April). Berbagaimasalah UN di daerah pada 2013 &2014. [Various problems of national examinations in many regions on 2013 and 2014]. Oke News. https://news.okezone.com/read/2014/04/17/560/971988/berbagai-masalah-un-di-daerah-pada-2013-2014.

Retnawati, H. (2016). Hambatan guru Matematika sekolah menengah pertama dalam menerapkan kurikulum baru. [Obstacles of Mathematic secondary school teachers in implementing new curriculum]. Cakrawala Pendidikan, 34(3), 390–403. https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v3i3.7694.

Aditomo, A., &Faridz, N. F. (2019). Ketimpangan mutu dan akses pendidikan di Indonesia: Potret berdasarkan survei PISA 2015. [Inequality in quality and access to education in Indonesia: A portrait based on the 2015 PISA survey]. Kilas Pendidikan, 17, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.31227/osf.io/k76g3.

BPS (Badan Pusat Statistik). (2019). Potret pendidikan: Statistik pendidikan Indonesia 2019. [Image of education: Statistic of Indonesian education 2019].


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.