Proposal to End Automatic Promotion for Students from 2027: Education Minister Explains Rationale

A proposal to end automatic promotion for students from the 2027 school year remains under consideration. However, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Abdul Mu’ti said the government is taking the suggestion seriously.

The proposal was raised at the 12th Indonesian Education Convention 2026 at Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha) on Friday, 2 October 2026.

Mu’ti said that if the recommendation to change the promotion policy is formally included in the convention’s conclusions, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is ready to follow it up.

“If this is approved and perhaps becomes part of the convention’s recommendations, we will certainly be ready to implement it,” Mu’ti said, according to a written statement on Thursday, 8 October 2026.

If introduced, the policy could apply from the 2027 school year onwards. Completing one academic year would therefore no longer mean that a student automatically advances to the next grade.

Mu’ti said one reason for the proposal was to restore students’ seriousness about learning. He pointed to what he called the ‘RMS formula’ — ‘being diligent or lazy makes no difference’.

“Many pupils follow the RMS formula: being diligent or lazy makes no difference,” he said.

Mu’ti said it would be unhealthy to allow this situation to persist until it became part of the education system’s culture.

Schools, he said, need to give pupils room to understand that learning requires effort. Students who are diligent, motivated and demonstrate improvements in their competencies should be recognised.

Conversely, students who have not yet met the required competencies should not automatically be considered ready to move on to the next level.

Mu’ti stressed, however, that the proposal to prevent students from advancing is not intended simply as a punishment.

Rather, the policy is aimed at developing character and fostering a more serious learning culture.

Mu’ti said the proposal is also in line with President Prabowo Subianto’s guidance on the importance of building resilient human resources.

Education, he said, must do more than produce students with academic ability. The system must also develop a generation with perseverance and the readiness to face competition.

For that reason, promotion should no longer be viewed merely as an administrative procedure. Mu’ti said it should form part of a mechanism to ensure students have the necessary foundations before continuing their studies.