Indonesia's House Finalizes Draft Bill for 13-Year Compulsory Education

Indonesia's House of Representatives has completed a draft bill for the National Education System, incorporating a 13-year compulsory education policy. This significant step, finalized after discussions since January 2025, now moves to the Legislation Body for harmonization before a plenary session.

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The approval of all factions in the internal meeting of Commission X is an important milestone before the discussion continues at the harmonization stage in the Legislation Body of the DPR RI.

Hetifah Sjaifudian, Chair of Commission X, highlighted the approval from eight factions as a crucial milestone. The bill, spanning 16 chapters and 257 articles, aims to address national education challenges and cultivate superior human resources.

Golkar Party Faction member Karmila Sari emphasized the need for a revised Sisdiknas bill to foster a quality, inclusive, and flexible education system responsive to global and technological changes. The faction supports the 13-year compulsory education, alongside initiatives for equitable quality, equal treatment of public and private institutions, enhanced protection against educational violence, sufficient funding, support for religious education, and technology adaptation.

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The Golkar Party Faction views the revision of the Sisdiknas RUU as needing to present a quality, inclusive, flexible, and equitable education system that can answer global challenges and be responsive to technological developments and social changes.

Karmila pointed out persistent issues such as disparities in human development, school dropout rates, low average years of schooling in some regions, and limited participation in secondary and higher education. These problems are exacerbated by inadequate facilities, uneven teacher distribution, teacher welfare concerns, and the need for a more future-relevant curriculum, particularly affecting marginalized areas. The Sisdiknas bill is expected to offer solutions for equitable access to quality education.

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These problems are most felt by the community in underdeveloped, frontier, outermost, and marginal areas. Therefore, the Sisdiknas RUU must be a solution that provides equitable opportunities to obtain quality education.