Challenge of Education in Indonesia
High-quality education is the foundation for the successful development of a country. Based on Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 (World Economic Forum, 2017), currently, Indonesia is placed in rank 36 of 137 countries. This number shows that Indonesia still have lots to do to compete against other developing countries, and one of the ways is to work harder in improving the education quality. Based on research by McKinsey Global Institute, there will be more request for a well-educated and skillful workforce in 2030. Thus, the quality improvement of graduates is the most crucial part in the development of Indonesia (McKinsey Global Institute, 2010).
The quality improvement of graduates should be done in parallel with the quality improvement of teachers’ competence. Though the number of schools in Indonesia drastically increase in 2009-2017, the quality of teachers, in general, is far from expected. With close to 3 million teachers and 211.646 schools, the government of Indonesia needs support to achieve an excellence of Indonesia education. PSF-SDO partnered with both government and private sector to work in elevating education quality in Indonesia through an initiative namely Lighthouse School Program.
What is a Lighthouse School Program?
Lighthouse School Program (LSP) is established to assist under-performed schools to be quality schools that would be role models among others in the area. This intervention program will be applied at school for 3 years to fulfil the National Standard as well as LSP Standards through the implementation of teachers’ professional development, school management improvement, students’ capacity improvement and school community empowerment. STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and English subjects are important keys of the program to create more competitive graduates through the collaboration and empowerment of the school community.
