The Future of Schooling in Indonesia

On the basis of the new Education Law enacted in the Year 2003, which conveys the spirit of educational decentralization, the Government of Indonesia has implemented a number of reforms to change education practices at the school level. The reforms include among other things the implementation of school-based management, a school-level curriculum, school-based teacher professional development, teacher certification, international benchmarking, and national examinations. The reforms are expected to synergically cause an on-going continuous school restructuring to become more autonomous in making local decisions, strong community participations, and effective in delivering quality education services. This paper describes efforts which are being conducted in each area of school reform and concludes with the probable features of future schools in Indonesia as shaped by those reforms.