From 2027, Pupils Will No Longer Automatically Progress to the Next Year
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education plans to end automatic promotion to the next year of school from the 2027/2028 academic year. Schools will assess pupils’ eligibility to advance based on several factors, including academic results and their character development.
“We are currently conducting a review, and, God willing, the policy will take effect in the 2027/2028 academic year,” Primary and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu’ti told reporters in Kubu Raya regency, West Kalimantan, on Saturday, 17 October 2026, detikEdu reported.
Whether a pupil can move on to the next year will not be determined solely by academic marks. Character and the pupil’s overall development will also form part of the assessment.
To support implementation, the ministry is drafting a ministerial regulation and technical guidance for schools and teachers.
Mu’ti said the ministry had received many complaints from teachers, and that pupils’ academic achievement needed to improve. He said an approach was needed that could encourage learning motivation while helping pupils develop resilience.
“Through a policy that ends automatic promotion, the government hopes pupils will be more motivated to study, improve their mastery of the material, and build strong character and resilience,” he said.
The proposal to improve education quality was raised at the 12th Indonesian Education Convention 2026, held at Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha) on Friday, 2 October.
“On the issue of improving quality, we received input, including from Mr Yanto and colleagues on the Education Council, who recommended reinstating the policy that pupils should not automatically progress. This was a recommendation from the Education Council, as was a policy concerning study specialisations, if I remember correctly, recommended by Mr Brian [the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology],” Mu’ti said in remarks published on Undiksha’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, 7 October.
“If this is approved and becomes part of the convention’s recommendations, we will of course be ready to implement it. So, from the 2027 academic year onwards, not all pupils will automatically progress,” he added.
According to detikEdu’s archives, Toni Toharudin, head of the ministry’s Agency for Primary and Secondary Education Policy, said the ministry was preparing to strengthen the policy’s implementation mechanisms.
Given the existing regulations, Toni said the aim was to make implementation clearer, more objective and consistent. The mechanism would refer to school assessment results while taking pupils’ needs and schools’ readiness into account.
“What we are reviewing is how to strengthen implementation so that it is clearer, more objective and consistent. Going forward, preparations will refer to school assessment results and take into account pupils’ needs and schools’ readiness,” Toni said.