Yogyakarta's Distinctive Cultural Education Programme to Be Implemented Across All Schools in the Region

Yogyakarta (ANTARA) — The Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY) government will soon implement its Pendidikan Khas Kejogjaan (PKJ), or Distinctive Yogyakarta Education programme, across all schools in the 2026-2027 academic year, spanning from early childhood education through to universities.

DIY Education Council chairman Sutrisna Wibawa said the policy was a direct instruction from DIY Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X to ensure Yogyakarta’s values are instilled in all students.

“We were asked to promptly hold a ‘kepyakan’ or formal launch to be carried out at all schools, from early childhood, primary, lower secondary, upper secondary and vocational levels, as well as universities,” he said after meeting the DIY Governor at Gedhong Wilis in the Kepatihan Complex, Yogyakarta, on Monday.

Sutrisna explained that PKJ implementation had actually begun in 2024 at several schools as a pilot programme. Based on evaluations at ten schools, the impact of PKJ on students’ character development was deemed positive, with an average score of 4.1 on a character measurement indicator using a scale of 1 to 5.

“This means it has been going well. That is why we feel other schools need to implement it too,” he said.

According to him, PKJ is an education programme centred on Yogyakarta’s values relating to character development. Despite bearing the term “education”, PKJ is not a new subject. Rather, the content is integrated into existing subjects such as Javanese language, Indonesian language, social studies and religious education.

He gave the example that in religious education, the philosophy of “sangkan paraning dumadi” — which teaches about humanity’s origins and purpose of creation — can be incorporated, whilst Indonesian language or social studies lessons can include distinctively Yogyakarta-themed discourse.

At the university level, he said, PKJ can be introduced from the campus orientation period, as several universities in DIY have already begun doing.

Sutrisna expressed hope that in future there would be greater exploration of Yogyakarta’s values and culture from an academic perspective.

“As for implementation, the PKJ textbooks and learning materials are already prepared. We have also arranged a series of technical guidance sessions and will continue to carry these out,” said Sutrisna.