After RSBI is dismissed, what’s next in the agenda?

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.

Afrianto Daud ; 

A PhD Candidate in the School of Education,

Monash University, Australia

JAKARTA POST, 19 Januari 2013

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Setelah RSBI Bubar, What Next

Tak bisa dimungkiri bahwa program Rintisan Sekolah Berstandar Internasional (RSBI) telah menciptakan diskriminasi dalam akses masyarakat terhadap pendidikan yang berkualitas. Ini karena RSBI biasanya memilih dan menyeleksi calon siswa dari kalangan tertentu sejak awal. Program RSBI lebih jauh dinilai sebagai program yang telah menghabiskan anggaran pendidikan nasional secara tidak tepat sasaran.

Pembubaran RSBI menjadi tamparan tersendiri bagi pemerintah yang selama ini bertanggung jawab sebagai pelaksana. Betapa tidak, program yang dulu dianggap "proyek mercusuar" dan menjadi kebanggaan untuk sebagian kalangan ini harus berakhir tragis di ketukan palu hakim MK.

Pascakeputusan ini, pemerintah suka ataupun tidak suka tentu wajib mematuhi amar keputusan MK. Jika ada pemerintah daerah yang membandel dengan keputusan ini atau masih ingin mempertahankan eksistensi RSBI di daerahya maka Akil Mukhtar (salah seorang hakim dan juru bicara MK) menegaskan bahwa tindakan tersebut bisa dikategorikan melawan hukum.

Karenanya, semua sekolah yang berlabel RSBI harus dikembalikan statusnya ke sekolah reguler. Segala pungutan atas nama RSBI harus dihentikan. Segala bentuk administrasi sekolah, bahkan plang nama sekolah yang ada tulisan RSBI-nya pun harus diganti.

Mentri Kemendiknas M Nuh dalam beberapa kesempatan menyatakan legowo dan menghormati keputusan MK ini. Pemerintah awalnya berharap bahwa penutupan itu tentu tidak bisa serta-merta dilakukan karena tahun ajaran di sekolah sedang berjalan. M Nuh bahkan mengatakan bahwa sampai akhir tahun ajaran selesai, RSBI masih dibolehkan memungut SPP kepada orang tua murid (Republika, 11/01/2013).

Namun, keputusan MK adalah tegas dan mengikat. Dengan sendirinya segala kegiatan yang terkait RSBI harus dihentikan. Oleh karena itu, edaran Kemendiknas(?) terbaru kemudian berubah dan menyatakan melarang semua sekolah berlabel RSBI memungut sumbangan atau SPP pascakeputusan MK ini.

Masyarakat mesti ikut mengawal dan mengawasi pelaksanaan amar keputusan MK ini karena ada kekhawatiran sebagian masyarakat bahwa bisa saja RSBI hanya berganti nama atau label dengan istilah non-RSBI. Beberapa pemerintah daerah bisa saja mengganti label RSBI menjadi sekolah unggulan, sekolah mandiri, atau sekolah model, misalnya. Jika keberadaan sekolah (negeri) ini secara substansi masih mempertahankan prinsip diskriminatif, masyarakat wajib menolak.

Sekolah Tak Bubar

Tentu harus ditegaskan bahwa keputusan MK bukanlah membubarkan keberadaan sebuah sekolah. Yang dibatalkan MK adalah pelaksanaan program RSBI. Karenanya, segala proses belajar mengajar di semua sekolah RSBI itu harus tetap berjalan sebagaimana biasa.

Mungkin akan terjadi sedikit culture shock setelah pembubaran program RSBI ini di kalangan guru, siswa, kepala sekolah, ataupun mungkin pada sebagian orang tua. Keterkejutan seperti itu sangat mungkin terjadi karena sebagian mereka bisa saja sangat menikmati label RSBI. Bagi pihak pengelola sekolah, keterkejutan bisa terjadi karena sekolah tidak bisa lagi menerima kucuran dana yang lumayan besar seperti sebelumnya.

Namun, rasa ini tentu tidak boleh men jadi alasan bagi semua pihak di sekolah untuk berhenti berusaha menjadi yang terbaik. Pertama, karena memang sekolah itu sendiri masih ada dan tidak ikut bubar bersama hilangnya program RSBI. Kedua, karena sekolah mantan RSBI itu tentu memiliki banyak nilai lebih dan potensi yang bisa terus dikembangkan. Di lain pihak, selain memperhatikan nasib semua sekolah mantan RSBI ini agar terus berkembang dan berprestasi, pemerintah diharapkan terus mengembangkan program peningkatan kualitas pendidikan yang menyentuh semua kalangan anak bangsa.

Beberapa program bagus di Kemendikbud yang sedang berjalan, seperti akreditasi sekolah, sertifikasi guru dan pengawas sekolah, subsidi biaya pendidikan melalui program BOS, dan pemberian block grant pembangunan fisik sekolah, pantas diteruskan, tentu dengan terus dievaluasi dan diperbaiki sistem pelaksanaanya.

Pelaksanaan hibah kompetitif yang di wacanakan pemerintah sebagai alternatif solusi perbaikan mutu sekolah pascapenghapusan RSBI juga layak dilanjutkan. Tentu dengan tetap mempertimbangkan fakta perbedaan yang masih tajam dalam banyak hal antara sekolah tertentu di perkotaan dan sekolah di pelosok daerah. Harus dipikirkan pula mekanisme dan persyaratan yang berbeda, bagaimana sekolah-sekolah yang selama ini terpinggirkan juga memiliki peluang untuk memenangkan dana hibah atas kompetisi tersebut.

Saya berkeyakinan bahwa jika program yang saya sebut di atas bisa terus kita lakukan dengan baik, dievaluasi, dan diperbaiki kelemahan sistemnya, perlahan tapi pasti, insya Allah dunia pendidikan kita akan semakin baik. Bukankah pendidikan adalah sebuah investasi jangka panjang? Karenanya, mari terus menanam usaha dan kebaikan di dunia pendidikan kita. Insya Allah pendidikan kita akan jaya pada waktunya walau tanpa embel-embel RSBI. Wallahua'lam.

Afrianto Daud ; 

Kandidat PhD di Fakultas Pendidikan, Monash University Australia

REPUBLIKA, 15 Januari 2013

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