Kayee Man, Dewi Susanti, and Steffen Ummelmann

This article was published in The Jakarta Post on June 11, 2024. Below is the final draft version. 

Indonesia faces severe challenges in literacy achievements, consistently ranking in the bottom ten in international assessments over the past two decades. The situation is dire. 

By World Bank estimates, 53 percent of Indonesian students are unable to read a simple text with comprehension by age 10. This is roughly 13 million elementary school children. The pandemic has exacerbated this problem, with a large-scale study by INOVASI showing that girls had lost the equivalent of six months of literacy and boys four months. What caused this crisis in the first place? What solutions have been tried and have they worked? Can AI disrupt this learning crisis?

Solutions to date point to the problem of teacher competence. The Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (MoECRT) has made several efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 on education. They advocated differentiated learning, often referred to as teaching at the right level (TaRL), an approach that groups students based on their competences and uses interactive activities to accelerate learning. To widely disseminate differentiated learning, MoECRT launched an online platform for teachers, Platform Merdeka Mengajar, to access references and best practices. They also identified and trained exemplary teachers (Guru Penggerak) to become instructional leaders, fostering professional development communities and establishing stronger relationships with parents and communities. MoECRT also identified model schools (Sekolah Penggerak) and trained educators within these schools to support other schools in implementing the reforms. 

However, while these reforms theoretically enable teachers to adopt differentiated learning, the practical implementation at scale remains challenging. By the end of this year, the Guru Penggerak and Sekolah Penggerak programs will only reach around 5% of Indonesia’s 4 million teachers at best. The rest of the schools will have to rely on the Platform Merdeka Mengajar. Let's keep in mind that since 2020, MoECRT has rolled out 26 reform episodes, 11 of which are relevant for elementary schools. Needless to say, teachers are overwhelmed. Improving teaching quality has been a common approach in tackling the problem of the learning crisis, but is this solution hitting the nail on its head?

In public schools, the learning crisis is the product of a melting pot of problems. Teachers enter the profession unprepared to teach in the classroom. Teachers grapple with structural problems defined by district government capacity, high administrative demands, frequent changes in policies and school leadership, and limited resources and support from communities and parents. There are limited opportunities to participate in professional development training, and for most teachers, there is no follow-up to encourage them to continue learning and improving their competence. Teacher incentives are limited to those who have been certified or placed in remote areas. While the teaching job offers stability and short working hours, in-service teachers often focus on accumulating credit points for promotion and increased allowances to secure a life-long tenure as civil servants. With a lack of consequences for poor performance, there is also limited desire to improve performance. 

Essentially, Indonesia is also facing a teaching crisis, stemming from lack of motivation, incentives, and competence, simmering in systemic issues. It is not surprising then that after decades of interventions to improve the quality and performance of teachers, the learning crisis is not going away. As long as the systemic problems remain, the most practical solution to the learning crisis in the public school system is to hope that there are enough motivated teachers who can learn and adapt, and are willing to teach more effectively. Study by SMERU Research Institute found that only 12% of elementary school teachers feel they have content mastery in teaching literacy. With the government struggling to improve the competence of four million teachers simultaneously, how will Indonesia’s future generations keep up with the rest of the world?

Globally, the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the past year has resulted in both excitement and apprehension, especially in the education sector. However, AI is here to stay. The maturing of the technology and large-scale piloting across education settings especially in the United States have resulted in clearer pathways to take advantage of the potentials of AI and guardrails its misuse. Learning from early adoptions from top universities like Columbia and Wharton, and emerging evidence that AI can improve learning outcomes, Open AI has recently launched ChatGPT Edu, powered by GPT-4o, which brought together text, visual, and voice interactions. Khan Academy, a non profit organization providing free on-demand video tutoring, has made Khanmigo, its AI-powered teaching, free for all teachers in the US. 

There is potential for AI not only to address students’ cognitive, emotional, and physical challenges more effectively, but also for teachers and parents to get better involved in supporting individual learning of a child. For structural challenges such as large class sizes and short school hours in Indonesia, AI can provide individualized structured instruction and contextualize learning, while human support can focus on encouragement and inspiration. To combat issues related to limited exposure to texts and learning retention, AI can facilitate varied repetition, expand vocabulary, and offer personalized learning strategies, complementing human efforts to build confidence and provide encouragement. For focus-related challenges, including learning difficulties and behavioral issues, AI can implement individualized strategies and emotional regulation techniques, while teachers can focus on removing distractions and enforcing positive behaviors. 

By leveraging AI and emerging technologies, we can better support teachers and parents, and help students leapfrog in their learning journey. In that process, we will also be redefining how students learn, and the roles of teachers and parents in supporting learning. Similar to the US, Indonesia’s private sectors and philanthropic organizations can really get behind these revolutions in teaching and learning. The Indonesia’s future development will be dependent on the quality and competence of the current students. 

Kayee Man is the Founder of Credo Foundation, and Dewi Susanti and Steffen Ummelmann are the Co-Founders of Team Mycelia.