Only 64% of Students Successfully Completed High School in 2020

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that the completion rate for Senior High School (SMA) was only 63.95% in 2020. This percentage is the lowest compared to other basic education levels in Indonesia.

The completion rate for Junior High School (SMP) was recorded at 87.89% last year. Meanwhile, the completion rate for Elementary School (SD) reached 96%.

The high completion rates for SD and SMP are supported by the nine-year compulsory education program. Compulsory education is a minimum education program that must be followed by Indonesian citizens, under the responsibility of the central and regional governments.

To date, this program only mandates education up to the SMP level. This is supported by Government Regulation Number 47 of 2008 concerning Compulsory Education.

This obligation has not actually changed since the New Order government issued Presidential Instruction Number 1 of 1994 concerning the Completion of Nine-Year Basic Education.

Meanwhile, there is no obligation for Indonesian residents to complete their education up to SMA. The government is only in the initial stages of implementing 12 years of compulsory education through Ministerial Regulation of Education and Culture Number 19 of 2016 concerning the Indonesia Pintar Program.

This program only strives to prevent students from dropping out of school by providing cash assistance.

Based on research by the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud), other factors hindering educational completion rates are poverty, distance from school, limited availability of educational services, and family education levels.

It should be noted that school completion rate is the percentage of the population at a certain reference age who have completed the education level corresponding to their age group. The reference age used in Indonesia is 1-3 years above the age at which students generally sit in the final grade of each education level.

For SD completion rate, the reference age used is 13-15 years. For SMP completion rate, the reference age is 16-18 years. For SMA completion rate, the reference age used is 19-21 years.