Factors In The Declining Quality Of Education In Indonesia

Education is the main pillar in the development of a nation because through good education, the younger generation can develop into smart, creative people who are ready to compete in the global world. However, in recent decades, the quality of education in Indonesia has declined drastically, which has a direct impact on the ability and competitiveness of Indonesia's human resources at the national and international levels. Various indicators point to this decline, including high disparities in access to education and the results of student achievement surveys around the world.This problem is caused by a number of factors, among others:

1.Declining teacher quality

Out of twelve countries in Asia, the quality of education in Indonesia ranks 12th. One of the factors causing the low quality of education in Indonesia is the poor quality of teachers. Based on UKG results from 2021 to 2015, around 81% of teachers in Indonesia did not even reach the minimum score. The data results show that the quality of educators will certainly be affected by the capability and quantity of incompetent teaching staff.

One of the main causes of low teacher quality in Indonesia is the lack of human resource management during teacher recruitment. More than 50 percent of teachers in Indonesia are civil servants, and 90 percent of learning depends on them, despite their poor quality, according to RISE Research on Improving System of Education. So it is difficult to distinguish educators who want to teach or just want to be government employees. In addition, because teachers do not meet the necessary education standards, many teachers are reluctant to improve their knowledge and skills in teaching, which has an impact on the quality of students taught. Although the quality of a teacher largely guarantees the quality of students.

What are the reasons why the quality of teachers can affect the quality of education in Indonesia? As already explained, teachers have an important role in imparting knowledge and values to their students. If the quality of teachers is lacking, this will impact the quality of education in Indonesia. While it is certainly a difficult task to address the problem of low teacher quality in Indonesia caused by ineffective recruitment, there are some steps that can be taken to address this issue. First and foremost, Indonesia's learning profile must be updated. Teaching should be considered a professional occupation.

2.Limited access to education

In Indonesia, limited access to education is still a major problem, mainly due to differences between urban and rural areas. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) 2023 shows that in rural areas, around 5.11% of the population aged 15 years and above have never attended school, and 12.39% did not complete primary education. In urban areas, these figures are lower, with 1.93% of the population having never attended school and 6.62% not completing primary school. In addition, in cities, 49.16% of the population had completed senior high school, while in villages only 27.98%. One of the problems faced is poor school infrastructure in remote areas. Many schools in rural areas lack basic facilities such as adequate classrooms, clean water and toilets. To reduce this disparity, the government has created a zoning policy to expand access to urban schools.

3.The abolition of the National Examination (UN)

The main advantage of abolishing the UN is that it reduces academic pressure on students. The UN system has created excessive pressure on students because they have to pass the exam. With the abolition of the UN, students can devote their time and attention to matters of their true interest and develop their potential. However, the abolition of the UN has several drawbacks, one of which is the lack of consistent standards for assessing students' academic abilities. Without the National Exam, the responsibility for assessing students' abilities falls on individual schools, which may lead to cheating. This will impact the quality of education. In addition, students also lack a strong competitive spirit. With the elimination of the UN, students feel they don't need to study hard because there is no grade or benchmark for students' abilities. They believe they will be passed by the school.

In fact, there are many other factors that have led to the decline in the quality of education in Indonesia. The lack of education budget and rampant cases of violence such as bullying also affect whether or not the atmosphere and place of students when learning. With this article, I hope that the government will be more aware of the declining quality of education in Indonesia and can address the problems that occur. Because we know that education is something that is very important in forming a strong nation, and a strong nation will create a great country.