通过技术推动印度尼西亚的教育改革

© Oliver WymanEXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe acceleration of a nation’s development and the revitalization of talent often begins witheducational rejuvenation. Many countries understand this principle, and over the past fewdecades, numerous inspiring educational reforms have been initiated worldwide. In Indonesia,the quality of basic education has raised concerns in recent years. On one hand, educationalreforms seem to have entered a bottleneck period, requiring a re-evaluation of the currentsituation and root causes for targeted interventions. On the other, injecting vitality into sucha vast education system swiftly demands innovative new approaches.This report focuses on the intermediate outcomes of Indonesia’s recent educationalreform program, “Merdeka Belajar” and the Indonesian government’s efficient and creativeincorporation of technology in the execution of education policies. It examines the rootcauses that have plagued Indonesia’s basic education system, showcases the intentionsand scope of the educational rejuvenation program, and reveals how technological toolsand interventions played a pivotal role in the implementation of policies.Our research has identified that the root causes to such poor performance are the contentprescription base curriculum, lack of career development for teachers, low efficiency in schoolmanagement and decision making. The educational reform program hence encompassescrucial elements to tackle these challenges at their roots.The new curriculum, Kurikulum Merdeka, aims at making learning simpler and more profound,and enhancing students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Effective communication,training, and encouragement for teachers to engage in the re-creation of the curriculumare paramount. Throughout the process, technology tools played a crucial role, while leavinga profound and lasting impact, as a direct communication channel has been establishedbetween the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (MoECRT) andindividual teachers.Additionally, to truly realize the educational vision depicted by the new curriculum, teachersplay a crucial role. Over the years, Indonesia’s teacher community has faced challenges thaturgently need addressing. The process of selecting and appointing principals is lacking.The allocation of teacher training resources has been extremely imbalanced in the past.Besides, in the context of the past prescriptive curriculum, teachers lacked the opportunitiesand motivations to be innovative about teaching activities. These competency gaps needswift replenishment, and a comprehensive solution is required to fundamentally changeteachers’ mindset, beliefs, and motivational behaviors. © Oliver WymanEducational tools, facilitated by the widespread use of smartphones, can achieve revolutionarybehavioral changes. The Indonesian government has recognized this and has developedcorresponding technological solutions, continuously adding usage scenarios to make thema normalized tool in teachers’ professional lives.Finally, the management and decision-making capabilities of schools need to be strengthened,especially the ability to reflect on problems and allocate resources, and the streamliningof school administrative processes, for example, the management of procurement andbudgeting. Technology has provided solutions to all of these problems and has interactedwith other technology platforms in the ecosystem, becoming a fundamental tool formodern school management.Technology-enabled reformIndonesia’s large and complex education system makes reforming it a challenging task.Taking into account its national context, Indonesia has chosen the natural option of usingtechnological means to promote the implementation of policies. As a smartphone-centricsociety, a cell-phone-based approach was chosen to ensure broad accessibility.This is further complemented by a laptop distribution initiative to strengthen weaklinks in schools’ information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure.Several technology platforms were introduced to facilitate Merdeka Belajar. This reportwill primarily focus on four platforms produced by the MoECRT that include PlatformMerdeka Mengajar (PMM), Rapor Pendidikan, ARKAS, and SIPLah.Platform Merdeka Mengajar is a one-stop enablement and upskilling solution forteachers. Rapor Pendidikan showcases the schools’ assessment results in the form ofkey learning indicators along with root cause analysis, school planning and improvementrecommendations. ARKAS offers streamlined budgeting, planning, and reportingprocessesof the government’s funds. It is best used together with SIPLah, a procurement platformthat connects schools with nine different ecommerce partners to allow for a betterreachand wider selection of products.What also stands out in Indonesia’s practice is the establishment of an iterative workflow(discovery, delivery, and distribution) for the development and operation of educationtechnology products. Adhering to a