(This article was first published in The Jakarta Post, January 19,2013)
The Constitutional Court (MK) again made a historic decision to grant a
judicial review of Article 50, paragraph 3 of Law No. 20/2003 on the
national education system, which was the legal basis for the
establishment of the international-standard school pilot project (RSBI)
by the government. The review was submitted by the Coalition for Anti-Commercialization of Education over a year ago. With this decision, more than 1,300 RSBIs across the country, by law, must be dissolved because they no longer have a legal basis.
This decision has been welcomed by many, especially those who have criticized the existence of the RSBIs. They agreed that the RSBI are not in line with the spirit of the 1945 Constitution and has led to discrimination and social segregation in education. The Court also considered that the use of English as the medium of instruction in the RSBIs could potentially erode national identity.
I agree with the Court’s decision. It is undeniable that the program (intentional or not) has been disriminatory in terms of access to good education. This is because the RSBIs usually pick and select prospective students from certain circles in society (upper-middle class).
It has always been widely considered that the RSBIs have frivolously spent funds from the national education budget. It can be said that the government has wrongly subsidized education for the upper-middle class by spending billions of rupiahs every year on the RSBIs development, thereby ignoring other groups.
A program once considered a “lighthouse project” that many were proud of is now ending with the pounding of the judges’ gavel. Moreover, if we calculate how much of the state budget and public funds has been spent on this program, our sense of sympathy only grows.
For your information, the Research and Development Center of the Education and Culture Ministry said that total revenue for the RSBI block grant funding since 2006-2010 had reached Rp 1.07 trillion (US$108.75 million). This does not include budget support from local government and public donations.
So, what next? After this decision, the government (like it or not) is certainly obliged to obey the Court’s decision. If the government is stubborn and maintains the existence of the RSBIs, as stated by the mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, and confirmed by Akil Mukhtar (Court spokesman), it could be considered against the law.
Therefore, all schools with the RSBI status must be returned to regular schools, all levies on behalf of the RSBIs need to be stopped, all forms of school administration, even the name on the school signpost must be replaced.
Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh on several occasions said that he respected the Court’s decision, but that the government did not expect closures to be immediate as school was still in session. Nuh even said that until the end of the school year, the RSBIs were still allowed to collect fees from parents.
However, the Court’s decision was firm and binding and any activities related to the project must be stopped.
There is concern, however, that local governments will just rename the RSBIs — “Sekolah Unggul”, “Sekolah Mandiri” or “Sekolah Model”, for example. If these (public) schools remain discriminatory, expensive, and enforce the use of English as the language of instruction disproportionately, people should, of course, refuse it.
Furthermore, It is important to reemphasize that the Court’s decision does not dissolve the existence of a school itself. What the decision cancels is only the implementation of the RSBI program. Therefore, teaching and learning processes in all former schools have to continue as usual. The spirit to go forward and excel at all schools, however, should be kept, and if possible, improved.
I understand that there will probably a little “cultural shock” after this dissolution among teachers, students, principals, or perhaps in some parents as some of them could have greatly enjoyed all the privileges that the RSBI label gave them over the years.
For the school management, they might be shocked by the fact that they no longer receive the large amount of funding they once did. Some students or parents may also be a little disturbed by the termination, as for them, the RSBI was a symbol of a good life. They were proud to be part of the RSBI as it symbolized that they belonged to a group of people with social and economic advantages.
However, these kinds of shocks should not bring down the spirits of the affected parties. These former RSBIs certainly have a lot of good values and the potential to be further developed. They already have better facilities, a conducive learning culture and possibly cooperate with several international institutions. These could all be used as motivation to excel.
On the other hand, in addition to its responsibility to make sure that these former RSBIs continue to grow and excel, the government is expected to continue programs for improving the quality of education for everyone.
Some good programs in the Education and Culture Ministry that are now running, such as school accreditation, teachers and schools certification, subsidizing the cost of education through the BOS program, and the provision of a physical development block grant, deserve to continue, and certainly by continuously evaluating and improving the system of implementation.
Implementing competitive grants as an alternative solution to improve the quality of schools, after the removal of the RSBIs, is also a good idea. This is of course by taking into account the fact that there are still sharp differences among certain urban schools and schools in rural areas.
Specific requirements or different mechanisms to enable these so-called “marginalized” schools to have the opportunity to win this grant is necessary. I believe that if the programs I mentioned above can be implemented well, evaluated and improved, slowly but surely, our education will get better, without the RSBIs labels.
The writer is a PhD candidate in the School of Education, Monash University, Australia.
