Indonesian Education: Past, Present, and Future

Offering an overview of the history, perspectives, and developments of education in Indonesia since the country’s independence in 1945, in this book the authors raise awareness of education’s impact on national development in this unique context.

With more than 50 million students, three million teachers, and 300,000 schools, Indonesia’s most significant challenge for education is not only to improve access but also to improve the education quality to face the fast-paced world we live in today. The book traces the development of Indonesian education since 1945, highlighting its successes, failures, and responses to social, political, and economic changes. It addresses key issues such as legislation, school systems, education management, national policies, quality versus expansion, equity, curriculum, assessment, and unemployment. This book offers a nuanced understanding of the history of education in Indonesia and serves as a comparative reference for studies with other countries.

The book will be a valuable resource for researchers, students and scholars of comparative education, educational history and Asian studies.

I Gusti Ngurah Darmawan is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education, University of Adelaide, Australia. His most recently completed research project, funded by South Australia’s Department for Education, focused on the evaluation of the Brightpath program in public schools across South Australia.

Ace Suryadi is a Professor in Economics of Education at the Indonesia University of Education (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia/UPI). His position as advisor to the Indonesia University of Education has enabled him to continue working on research-based policy analyses.

Dasim Budimansyah is a Professor in Sociology of Citizenship at the Indonesia University of Education (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia/UPI). He has extensive experience in curriculum development and learning.

Susilo Susilo is a Professor of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Mulawarman University (Universitas Mulawarman/UNMUL), Samarinda, Indonesia. He was a Fulbright research fellow at Baruch College, City University of New York, USA.