Menuju Generasi 2045

The development problem

On PISA, (the OECD Program for International Student Assessment) around half Indonesian students surveyed are not reaching the minimum competence benchmark in Reading (55%), Mathematical Literacy (68.6%) and Scientific Literacy (56%) at age 15 years. This is a worry, firstly because there has been little or no progress in over a decade and secondly because PISA is just one indicator – similar results are apparent on the Indonesia’s own the new progressive achievement monitoring tests (AKSI) for Grades 2, 4, 6, 8)  also show the same worrying low performance.

For those students who do not acquire the basic skills in Literacy and Numeracy in Grades 9/10, further education including vocational training is not going to be effective and these students will miss the opportunity become part of the skilled work force with all the benefits that can bring to the individual and the nation. To turn around this trend, the challenge facing the Indonesian education system is how to adapt and focus the system on improving learning outcomes, especially targeting the high percentage of students below the minimum benchmarks.

The proposed innovation

Indonesia has a long record of development and improvement in the education system including increasing teachers’ qualifications, improving national assessment, making it easier for poor families to send their children to school, testing teachers’ knowledge of their subject and pedagogy and supporting teachers’ professional development. These actions however are not achieving the desired improvements in students’ learning outcomes. 

This proposal has three elements: developing a highly targeted approach, focusing on clusters of districts and schools which have the highest percentages of students below the minimum competence benchmarks, tracking student cohorts from Year One to Year Twelve and developing specific programs for supporting teachers and principals in the targeted areas. 

The approach would be led by the Ministry of Education and Culture in partnership with national Ministries (such as Religious Affairs for the madrasah, Finance, Home Affairs and Bappenas) and targeted local governments. 

Is the idea or innovation original, being applied in a new context or to new problems?

The idea of developing support packages matched to local needs and targeting cohorts of students all the way from Year one to Year 12 is new.

What are the potential benefits?

The benefits sought are an improvement in learning outcomes of students as measured by the percentage achieving the minimum competence benchmarks as measured by PISA. This will contribute to a better prepared and skilled future workforce for Vision 2045.

Implications for Policy and Practice?

Implementing this approach would require a commitment from a number of Ministries and local governments to work in partnership (vertically and horizontally) to address the problem with new and highly targeted support programs.