Sectors & Quality Assurance

Chart of Sectors Involved in Education

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Chart of Overlapping Sectors (Golden, 2013)

The most noticeable feature of the Indonesian government’s oversight of education is the fact both the Ministry of National Education (MONE) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) are involved. As mentioned in the Educational Structure section, religion is also part of the secular curriculum. Because of that, the Ministry of Religious Affairs is involved not just in overseeing religious schools, but religious subject matter that is part of all school curricula (UNESCO, 2003). The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is also incorporated into this chart because it is responsible for overseeing the national government’s funding of education.

With the government’s move towards decentralization, responsibilities for oversight have been split between MONE and its directorates general under the central government, and the provincial government administrations (UNESCO, 2003). The central government is responsible for specifying the standards for grading, testing, certifications, teaching materials, and overseeing the development of higher education internationalization. Provisional governments, more aware of the demographics and needs of their region, determine policies towards admitting minority and disadvantaged students, manage the administration of schools, including special needs schools, and also manage the budget for school supplies (UNESCO, 2003).

Finally, as discussed in the Partnerships section, there are also other non-governmental organizations which, by providing support, training, and partnership on education initiatives, are involved in Indonesia’s education, including UNESCO, AusAID, and IIEF.

Quality Assurance

With the movement towards decentralized control, the government of Indonesia has tried to ensure education will be effective on the local level while still educating all students to the national standard. It has been challenging in the past to ensure regulations are followed, so the new decentralized government has revamped its methods of quality control. Namely, “quality assurance pertaining to individuals (students and teachers) is administered through certification programs that are largely examination-based. The incentives for compliance with standards are clear, as are the consequences of failing,” (World Bank, 2004, p. 27). By having MONE maintain control over grading and testing standards, as well as certification, the government is able to maintain a national standard of education (World Bank, 2004).