House Commission X Targets Completion of National Education System Bill by 2027

The House of Representatives’ (DPR) Commission X is targeting the completion and enactment of the National Education System Bill (RUU Sisdiknas) by 2027. Deputy Chairman of Commission X, Lalu Hardian Irfani, stated that a crucial point specifically regulated in the bill is total equality for all teaching staff across Indonesia, irrespective of their overseeing institution. “There should be no more clusters or inequality between teachers under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and those under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. Their positions must be equal and parallel,” Hardian said in Mataram on Thursday. He added that this equality also extends to educators in Islamic boarding schools and madrasas, such as ustadz, tuan guru, and kiai. The bill also mandates equitable educational facilities and infrastructure across all corners of the country to achieve inclusive services. Acknowledging the disparity in fiscal capacity between regions, Commission X is currently reviewing the division of authority between central and regional governments. “We are also discussing whether education management needs to be pulled back to the central government or if it is sufficient to improve the governance of the division of authority,” said the legislator from the NTB II electoral district. Furthermore, the bill is designed to address rapid technological advancements, specifically the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, making AI utilisation a necessity from primary to tertiary levels. “This bill will contain specific guidelines. Technology inevitably brings positive impacts, but in this RUU Sisdiknas, we are also regulating mechanisms to filter and review so that AI does not have a negative impact on our students,” he said. With the roadmap enshrined in the bill, it is hoped that the direction of national education will not be easily swayed by short-term political interests. “We want the applicable curriculum to have a minimum validity period, for example 10 or 15 years, before it can be changed. So, there will be no more notion of changing leaders, changing policies, changing curricula,” Hardian stated. He noted that the bill is currently under discussion and undergoing synchronisation and harmonisation with the DPR’s Legislation Body. Once this stage is complete, the draft will be brought to a plenary session as a DPR Initiative Bill, after which it will await a presidential letter to be discussed by a government working committee.