Nadiem’s legacy to education

My family was attending a destination wedding in majestic Borobudur, Indonesia, last week when I chanced upon an education adviser to the country’s former minister of education, culture, research and technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim. 

I became curious as to what reforms Nadiem had put in place during his tenure from 2021-2024. He founded Gojek, Indonesia’s first start-up, which was valued at US$10 billion prior to his appointment by former president Joko Widodo. His term has since ended.

For perspective, we note that Indonesia is vast in every way. It has over 52 million students and three million teachers in 300,000 schools — comprising 170,000 primary schools, 42,000 junior high schools, 14,450 senior high schools, 14,000 vocational high schools, 4,500 universities, 69 IB (International Baccalaureate) World Schools and an assortment of private or national plus schools, academies, institutes and polytechnics.

Nadiem’s education legacy presents itself in the form of a repository similar to our Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB), aptly named Merdeka Belajar (Freedom To Learn), which comprises 26 comprehensive chapters that cover, among others, early childhood education (ECE), primary school and secondary school assessments, curriculum, vocational training, university education, scholarships, procurement, local languages, teachers as a driving force for progress, cultural independence, data reporting, higher education, sexual violence and the quality of reading materials.

Interestingly, Chapter One opens with three parts, first, replacing the National Standard School Examination (Ujian Sekolah Berstandar Nasional, USBN) by giving teachers and schools more autonomy in assessing students’ learning outcomes and competencies via school-organised assessments. This would be done using the individual school’s standard through a more comprehensive approach in the form of written tests, students’ projects and so on. Secondly, replacing the USBN with the National Assessment, which consists of a Minimum Competency Assessment and Civil Character Survey, developed and modified from international assessments (PISA, TIMSS) aimed at mapping students’ learning performance and progress. This is to be given to 4th, 8th and 11th graders, with the education authority providing the baseline. Thirdly, simplifying lesson plans by giving teachers more autonomy to more effectively and efficiently facilitate student learning.

(Such an approach sounds familiar. We too abolished UPSR and PT3 and replaced it with school-based assessments. But parents are not happy. Our education minister was adamant that UPSR and PT3 will not return and with good reason. Teachers should not take it easy either and the Ministry of Education has a role in ensuring that the road less travelled takes us to new heights.)

Chapters Five and Seven emphasise teachers as the driving force and movers of the education system respectively. They focus on improving the quality of human resources by casting teachers as role models and torches of change; honing in on pedagogy, student-centred and holistic development; training emphasising instructional leadership through on-the-job coaching; and a formative approach and development-based, collaborative and holistic instruction to generate excellent future Indonesian leaders who encompass the six characteristics of the Pancasila student profile.

(We too place utmost importance on teachers and live by the belief that “the students are only as good as the teachers”.)

Chapter 13 promotes culture through its first multichannel Indonesiana Platform, which highlights Indonesia’s vast cultural diversity through the transfer of knowledge via audio-visuals. The partnership of artists, communities and the public at large has fostered a flourishing sense of belonging among its multicultural peoples. Chapter 18 is an extension of this theme, where an ever-growing endowment fund has been set up whereby profits are used on the long-term orientation for the advancement of the cultural sector as a whole.

(While we have Sekolah Seni or Fine Arts Schools that embody music, theatre, dance and visual arts, we understand that more emphasis will be given in this field when the new curriculum is revealed in 2027.)

Chapter 17 speaks of 718 regional languages, most of which are endangered. It has been decided that 38 languages will be revitalised in the schools.

(While we still quarrel over the sovereignty of the Malay language, the importance of English as a language of knowledge and now Mandarin as a language of business, much effort is also being made to uphold the mother tongues of the indigenous peoples.)

Nadiem has now handed his portfolio to not one but three new ministers, namely, the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, Abdul Mu’ti, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro and the Minister of Culture, Fadli Zon. In his parting speech, he hoped that his policies, explained at length in the Merdeka Belajar series, which are already in place and are continuing, will be pursued with the objective of improving the quality of education and preparing graduates for real-world challenges.

(From the MEB perspective, legacies should not be set aside nor left stagnant but improved and enhanced rather than abolished as it is not the policy that is at fault but its implementation that needs attention.)

Indonesia’s ranking in PISA 2022 was 71st in reading, 70th in mathematics and 67th in science — out of 81 countries. A total of 43% of students were in the bottom quintile of the socioeconomic scale. PISA 2025 will not show immediate results as legacies take years, if not decades, to come to fruition.

Nonetheless, we would sincerely like to see the eventual success of Nadiem’s education legacy as Indonesia takes its place as the fourth economic powerhouse in the world while Malaysia positions itself to benefit as a major trading and tourism partner.

The Edge