Education in Karimun

Education in Karimun is provided in public and private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. According to existing laws, education is compulsory for 16 years, which consists of 3 years of early education, such as preschool and kindergarten; 5 years of primary or elementary education; 5 years of secondary education, which consists of 2.5 years each for junior and senior high school; and lastly, 3 years of semi-tertiary preparation education. After compulsory education ends, a person has a choice to proceed toward voluntary tertiary education, such as universities, institutes, vocational training schools, and so forth. The management of education falls under numerous ministries and institutions, such as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology; the Ministry of Religion; the Ministry of Youth and Sports; the Ministry of Defence and Security; the Ministry of Politics, Law, and Human Rights; and the Federal Council on Education. The Constitution mandates the Federal Government to allocate a minimum of 7% of the Federal Budget during peacetime. With a budget of K$ 417 trillion, the Federal Government subsidizes both public and private schools. However, the amount that private schools receive is less than the number of public schools receive.

History

Pre-Federation of Karimun

Ancient Civilization Period

Since the period of Ancient Civilization, Karimun already had a certain degree of learning center. During this period, education revolved around generational learning where a farmer's father taught his farmer son the ways and means to farm, and institutional learning centers where priests taught worldly and spiritual knowledge to their disciples. The institutional learning center back then was divided by class, with the royally owned and supported being more prestigious. Although, due to the increasing popularity of the Katitahan way of life, the royally owned and supported institutional learning centers began to open in almost every major port city.

Federation of Karimun

Old Order

In November 1945, a Presidential Order was passed to re-establish the education system. The then Minister of Education and Higher Learning Institution, Ki Hajar Dewantara ordered the absorption of the decentralized education system and made efforts to centralize it, albeit failing in the end.

Emerging Order

Jatimadya Adipadja

New Order

In 1998, the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat passed an amendment to the Federal Education Act synchronizing education curriculum and examination regulations and centralizing it into the hands of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology and the Federal Council on Education, an independent body created to supervise and oversee the management and development of science, technology, education system, and so forth.

Reformation

Three states challenged the amendment in the Constitution Court in 2001 arguing that states’ right to establish and manage education systems was violated but the Constitution Court voided the challenge on the basis of insufficient evidence of such happening. Four states later in 2003 requested a judicial review on the Federal Education Act arguing that there needs to be a strong statement from the Constitution Court. The Court established that Good Results Clause protected

Legal Framework

Through four fundamental laws related to education and culture, which are the Citizenship Study Act; the Youth Growth and Development Act; the Federal Education Act; and the Federal Public School Act..

• The Citizenship Study Act mandates the teaching of the Constitution; Pancasila, the enshrined national ideology of Karimun; the Buku Resolusi, which is a magazine that facilitates the debate about the Unitarian and the Federalism system of government; and numerous other materials that are deemed as suitable and fit for the citizenship study. The act also regulates national school traditions, ceremonies, and uniforms.
• The Youth Growth and Development Act protects the rights of students and guarantees a suitable educational environment for students to grow and develop by regulating the roles and contributions of the Federal Government, the State Government, and so forth in creating a suitable environment. The act also stresses the responsibilities of students as well. Numerous laws and programs originated from this act, such as the Students’ Social and Health Guarantee Amendment of 2001 which mandates schools to create a health center, supervises the physical and mental health of students, and prioritize the development of social skills through the individual or communal approach.
• The Federal Education Act lays the foundation for the education curriculum and so forth.
• The Federal Public School Act lays the foundation for the management of the public school system.

Levels of Education

Level of Education	Age	Description
PG	2-3 years old
TK A	3-4 years old
TK B	4-5 years old
SD	5-10 years old
SMP	10-12.5 years old	5 semesters
SMA	12.5-15 years old	5 semesters
MMPT	15-17/18 years old	17 for early graduation 18 for full graduation
PT	>17 years old

Early Education

Pre-school in Karimun is covered under Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini (PAUD) or Early Age Education which comprises of Taman Bermain (TB) or playgroup and Taman Kanak-Kanak (TK) or kindergarten. PAUD is under the direct supervision and management of the Directorate of Early Age Education Development or DPPAUD. Early-age education in Karimun is free and subsidized by the Federal and state governments, and most of the early-age institutions are publicly owned and operated.

From the age of 2, parents send their children to TB for 1 year, then children are sent to TK for 2 years. Most TKs arrange the classes into two grades, which are A dan B, each lasting one year. Recently, there has been a trend where parents also send their children to swimming, painting, or running classes during their time in TK.

Due to reforms under the New Order to modernize the country, the Karimunese curriculum now considers preschool critical for developing the cooperation and communication skills important to prepare young children for lifelong education and formal learning of reading and mathematics. Since the implementation of the Early Age Education Growth Amendment in 2003, Federal funding towards preschool education has been increased several times over the 20 years the amendment was implemented. Around 9,900 TKs and 7,100 TBs exist in the country, with 770 TKs and 500 TBs being built between 2010 to 2015, followed by the passage of several measures to reduce the crowdedness of classes by the Federal and state legislatures.

Primary Education

Primary or elementary education starts after children finish early education. Elementary education starts at the age of 5 and lasts for 5 years, divided into five grades, from the 1st until 5th grade. Depending on the type of schools, most students in Karimun must go to elementary schools or sekolah dasar (SD) five days a week from 08:00 a.m. until 13:30 p.m., with some schools having shorter or longer hours depending on the day. There are 13,450 SDs across the country and around 82.5% of SDs are publicly owned and operated. All public elementary schools are free, and subsidized by the Federal and state governments, while private elementary schools receive subsidies but the amount is less than private schools do. An increasing number of private schools are being nationalized, concerning numerous educational experts of the decreasing competitiveness of elementary schools while numerous parents have advocated for a complete nationalization of elementary schools as private elementary schools have been increasing tuition tremendously since the 2000s.

Secondary Education

Secondary education in Karimun is covered under Pendidikan Sekolah Menengah (PSM) or Middle School Education which comprises Sekolah Menengah Pertama (SMP) or known as Junior High School and Sekolah Menengah Atas (SMA) or known as Senior High School, each lasts 2.5 years or 5 semesters. The effective timetable only lasts for 4 semesters with one semester dedicated to exams and holidays. There are around 8,200 SMPs and 5,560 SMAs, with 78% and 81% of them being publicly owned and operated. Depending on the type of school, most secondary education students go to school five days a week, with certain selected schools in some states, such as Java, implementing 4 days a week of school as a form of curriculum experimentation, often from 7:30 a.m until 15:30 p.m., with some schools have shorter or longer hours depending on the day. Certain SMAs are accredited with the title of ‘national plus’, referring to how their quality of education surpasses the national average of schools in Karimun.

The Federal Government treats SMPs and SMAs the same as elementary schools regarding subsidies, with all of the public schools being free, and subsidized by the Federal and state governments, while private schools receive less than the amount public schools receive.

Semi-Tertiary Education

Semi-Tertiary Education or officially known as Masa Persiapan Perguruan Tinggi (MPPT) lasts for 3 years and it comprises basic preparation for Tertiary Education or known as Perguruan Tinggi, core and advanced citizenship studies and training, basic and advanced military and community services, and so forth. The place where MPPT is conducted is named Sekolah Persiapan Perguruan Tinggi or often known as Sekolah Bersiap (SB). The SPPT is divided into three administrative levels with the highest one being the national level while the lowest one being the district level. There are around 45 national SPPTs, 189 state SPPTs, and 1,057 district SPPTs. The largest SPPT is located within the presidential complex and is directly overseen by the president themselves from time to time. SPPTs are expected to last early compared to K-12 education, often before 3 pm, while some SPPTs also have afternoon classes and so forth that demand students to stay until 8 pm. Depending on the type of SPPT, some SPPTs have only three to four days of education, while others implement 6 hours a day for 5 days a week. Generally, all SPPTs implement a non-continuous 12 months of fieldwork and practice. All of the SPPTs are publicly owned and operated and fully free.

Currently, Karimun has basic mandatory military and community service integrated into the education curriculum. While there are attempts to repeal the basic mandatory service, all of them have failed and are often supported by less than 20% of the population. The latest attempt to do was the 2004 referendum to repeal mandatory military service but with a 78% turnout, the ‘repeal’ vote only received 19% of the vote.

Curriculum

Accreditation

Karimunese Education Accreditation is known for its ‘blusukan’ elements, where accreditors suddenly visit schools to oversee and examine schools’ daily condition, without any preparation for the school or so. The aim of this is to push schools to maintain the best conditions even when accreditors and other officials aren’t present.

The accreditation system is coordinated by the Federal Council on Education and a collaboration of numerous independent think tanks and so forth. To the general populace, this accreditation period is known as the “Common Week” referring to how contrary to what people, the week goes on as usually as possible. During this accreditation period, universities and scholarship scouts are often sent to accompany accreditors to recruit potentially talented and special abilities students.

Activities and Organizations

Teachers’ Organization

• Kartini’s Teachers Union
• Budi Utomo Prosperity Association

Students’ Organization

• Hatta’s Students Union
• Helen Private School Union
• United Students Organization

Government and Policy

Romantic Nationalism

An attempt to construct Karimunese identity and culture Post-Federal Declaration

Komprehensif Education

Nature, First-AID, Drug, Sex, Self-Defence, Citizenship, Culture, Ethnicity, Religion, Gender, and Society Mandatory Education

Education Funding Compromise Clause

The Y-subsidies

Merged with the X-subsidies in 2001

The F-subsidies

A form of merit-based subsidies, an equivalent to the Nusantara Ol

The S-subsidies

A form of school voucher program

Diet Formation Program

• Milk Subsidies
• Rice Subsidies
• Fish Subsidies
• Green Subsidies

Voucher Program

Karimun's school voucher program was first implemented in 1947. The program was intended to reduce the burden of the public school system and advance diversification and decentralization.

The program was neglected until 1970 when the budget was tripled and the administration of the voucher program was reassigned under the Expertise Council on Education Assistance and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

In 2001, the school voucher program was abolished and decentralized. The funding allocated for the program was distributed into the cash transfer mechanism, an increase of only 0.3%.

Controversy and Criticism

Concerns of and on Religion

Katitahan

Due to the acceptance and practices of Katitahan principles in the mainstream community, Katitahan Education is not seen as a breach of the separation of religion and state but several ultra-orthodox religious communities are concerned about what they see as erosion and infiltration of the secular education by Katitahan “religious” principles.

Non-Katitahan

In 1950, to promote social harmony, tolerance, and awareness of others, the Federal Government passed a law lifting a ban on religious studies within the public school system. Under the 1950 law that was reformed in 1989 and 2001, public schools are mandated to teach religious studies and provide diverse knowledge of each religion and so forth.

Laicite Secularists are concerned that it would further infringe the separation of religion and state which means an infringement of the freedom of and from religion, as well as academic freedom and integrity.