Zoning System and Comfort Zone

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Anita Lie

In the last few weeks, education circles have been getting noisy following the controversy over the implementation of the zoning policy as instructed in the Education and Culture Ministererial Regulation Number 51/2018 on the new students admissions process (PPDB).

Articles 5 and 16 of the regulation stipulate that PPDB in to be carried out online with 90 percent of places to be allocated via zoning, 5 percent for academic merit and 5 percent for the transfer of duties of parents/caretakers guardians. This zoning policy is intended to "encourage increased access to education services", as outlined in Article 3.

Furthermore, regional heads are required to make technical policies to implement the PPDB. This is where the controversy arose. Despite the good intentions to ensure equitable access to quality education and opportunities for all students from various socio-economic backgrounds, the zoning policy has not been smoothly implemented.

Guardians of students who oppose the zoning system have raised concerns about the injustices that have befallen students who struggled to achieve high national exam scores. The quota for high achieving students to enter “favored” schools is only 5 percent.

They objected to the decisions to prioritize school zones over academic achievement. Hundreds of guardians demonstrated at the Surabaya City Education Agency on Wednesday, June 19, to call for the elimination of the zoning system. In response, the East Java and Surabaya education agencies decided to suspend the registration process.

It is regrettable that the populist power of dissatisfied people succeeded in stopping the implementation of a policy that, in the long run, would be part of a series of strategies to improve the quality of education in a comprehensive and equitable way.

As usual, certain parts of society, including those who would benefit from this policy or can understand its essence, have not voiced their support loudly. Students with "mediocre" academic records and educators at schools that are considered less favored are already accustomed to not getting access to the public stage. Conversely, those bothered by the new policy are the parents of outstanding students and educators at favored schools.

Of course these parents have high hopes and have invested significantly in their children\'s education, including by hiring tutoring. Meanwhile, teachers at favored schools are accustomed to teaching children chosen for their academic achievements. Educating children from different backgrounds is a new challenge that requires special skills and unlimited sincerity.

Consistency

To achieve noble goals in the development of education, it is not enough to just regulate from the center. Equalizing the quality of education in a country as complex as Indonesia is a long and steep journey, and one that must be fought seriously for the sake of Indonesia\'s future and social justice. The central and regional governments need to have the same perception of and commitment toward goals and technical implementation, efforts to meet national education standards and the continuation of policies by subsequent leadership.

Seno Bagaskoro, a student at a favored high school and activists from the Surabaya Student Alliance, gathered data to argue that the country was not ready for a zoning system. This is possibly the reason the East Java and Surabaya education agencies temporarily stopped the PPDB registration process. Indeed, the cliché problem in Indonesia is the disjuncture between noble goals and technical readiness and synchrony between central and regional governments. The chicken-and-egg dilemma commonly characterizes policy implementation. We cannot let technical constraints and populist pressure hinder policies made for the good of the wider community in the nation’s future.

Regional heads need to work hard to fix the implementation of the zoning policy by operating through the paradigm that its indicators of success are not based on the average grades or achievements of the luckiest children, but on the achievements of the less fortunate.

This is a moment to pay attention to schools that have been left behind so that we can improve their facilities, management and finances in addition to the skills of their teachers.

Fulfillment of the eight national education standards also needs to be continually worked toward. Without a zoning policy, good schools will become more superior and the poorest will become worse. This is a moment to pay attention to schools that have been left behind so that we can improve their facilities, management and finances in addition to the skills of their teachers.

The public\'s anxiety that "changes in leadership mean changes in policy" is certainly reasonable and is supported by real experience of the implementation of public policy. In fact, the zoning policy is only one of the strategies in a long series of efforts to improve the quality of education in Indonesia. Therefore, whoever the person is and whatever their party affiliation, the education minister and the heads of the education agencies need to have the same vision for education development and not to be trapped by valuing only short term interests.

Shareholders’ wisdom

The implementation of a strategic policy frequently "takes casualties". Parents and guardians of high achieving students feel their children’s opportunities to study at their favorite schools will be taken away and worry that their children will lose their motivation to study if they attend schools that have been branded as poor.

Education is the right of every child, but learning at a favored school is a privilege that realistically crisscrosses socio-economic classes. The disappointment of parents who feel their children are victims of the zoning system is very reasonable and understandable.

What is encouraging is that some disappointed parents can still be wise and realize that their disappointment and behavior will unconsciously be absorbed by their children. Parents who nurture the seeds of wisdom while motivating their children to be able to make peace with reality when it is not in line with their expectations, will raise children who are not only intelligent, but also mature spiritually, emotionally and socially.

Conversely, students and parents who benefit from the zoning policy should take advantage of this moment as a turning point to change their lives through hard work.

Educators at favored schools have not voiced anxiety in public because they are still bound by the educator\'s code of ethics. After the PPDB is over and when the school year has started, they will also feel the impact of change. There needs to be awareness, as reflected by Khairil Anwar, the head of state senior high school SMA 1 Surabaya, which is a favored school, who said the nature of the school was "helping children who do not understand to understand, helping children who understand to be smart, and making smart children even smarter".

Anita Lie, Professor, School of Teaching and Educational Science (FKIP) of Widya Mandala Catholic University, Surabaya