JPPI Warns Centralised PAUD-SMA Management in Education Bill Could Revive New Order Bureaucracy

The Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) has scrutinised a proposal to grant the central government the authority to establish its own educational units. The idea was put forward by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education during a hearing on the National Education System Bill (RUU Sisdiknas) with Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR). The ministry seeks the authority to administer education from early childhood education (PAUD) to upper secondary school (SMA), operating separately from educational units managed by regional governments. The ministry also proposed incorporating the concept of asymmetric decentralisation into the RUU Sisdiknas. This concept is intended to allow the central government to temporarily take over part or all of the education management authority in regions that fail to meet minimum service standards or experience significant lag.

JPPI National Coordinator Ubaid Matraji argued that the proposal for the central government to run educational units could potentially make the education bureaucracy more bloated and sluggish. He said this condition would be akin to returning to the New Order era. ‘The central government will be overwhelmed in responding to tactical and local issues on the ground,’ Ubaid said on Wednesday, 24 June 2026. He also assessed that the centralisation concept could negatively impact the quality of education. Ubaid highlighted the potential loss of local context and inclusivity if the central government takes over education management authority from the regions. ‘Centralisation risks standardising the curriculum and facilities, thereby ignoring local potential, indigenous education, and inclusive needs based on regional realities,’ Ubaid said.

However, Ubaid did not deny that the proposal to give the central government space to manage educational units has a positive side. For instance, it could create an even distribution of quality standards and budgets across regions. Consequently, Ubaid assessed that it is not impossible for the quality gap in education between Java and other islands to be reduced. Centralised policy, he said, could also facilitate national teacher mapping, certification, appointment, and distribution. ‘There will be no more shifting of responsibility between regional governments and the central government,’ Ubaid said.

The Regent of North Central Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, Yosep Falentinus Delasalle Kebo, opined that there are other ways to improve education quality without centralising policy to the ministry. He stated that the central government should only set standard operating procedures as a benchmark for regions in administering education. ‘If all authority is taken by the centre, what will regional governments do?’ Yosep said when contacted on Wednesday, 24 June 2026. Yosep also referred to Law Number 23 of 2014 on Regional Government, which stipulates that provincial governments have the authority to manage SMA and vocational school (SMK) level educational units, while district or city governments manage PAUD, primary school (SD), and junior high school (SMP) levels. ‘Regions have autonomy rights, so do not let all matters be taken over by the central government, including education,’ said the National Mandate Party (PAN) politician.

Head of the Primary and Secondary Education Policy Agency at the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Toni Toharudin, said the educational units managed by the central government are not intended to take over regional authority. According to him, centrally managed schools are expected to become models of good practice that can be replicated by the regions. ‘The presence of educational units administered by the central government is intended to answer national strategic needs, encourage educational innovation, and serve as models of good practice that can be replicated by regional governments,’ Toni said during his presentation at a hearing with Commission X of the DPR on Tuesday, 23 June 2026. He also stated that the asymmetric decentralisation concept is not aimed at reducing regional autonomy. This proposal, Toni said, is intended to serve as a corrective instrument so that students obtain the right to quality education services evenly throughout Indonesia. Beyond that, Toni proposed that the division of education authority should continue to follow the current pattern, where the central government is responsible for higher education, religious education, and pesantren (Islamic boarding schools). Meanwhile, secondary education and special education are managed by provincial governments, and early childhood education, basic education, and non-formal education are managed by district or city governments.

The RUU Sisdiknas is included in the list of Priority National Legislation Programmes (Prolegnas) for 2025. In this revision, the DPR plans to draft the RUU Sisdiknas using the omnibus law method, which combines several laws into one. The laws to be merged include Law Number 20 of 2003 on the National Education System, Law Number 14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers, Law Number 23 of 2014 on Regional Government, Law Number 12 of 2012 on Higher Education, and Law Number 18 of 2019 on Pesantren.