In today’s modern age, education plays a crucial role in building a nation. Counted as the basis for human character development and knowledge, imparting quality education has become a basic necessity in order to build a better tomorrow.

Standing amongst the top few populated countries of the world, the education system of Indonesia is witnessing a paradigm shift as the Government is determined to showcase Indonesia as one of the most preferred choice for educational institutes. Having an educated and a skilled pool of resources is a prerequisite for a sustainable economic growth. Demographic changes, rising income levels, and recent reforms incorporated in the educational sector has assisted the growth trajectory to new heights.

Out of various factors that attribute towards establishing a ‘world-class’ educational institute is Technology. Over the last decade, technology has assisted to cultivate new concepts and has broadened the perspective of education among the masses.

Cultivating Childhood Education

People are becoming more aware about the significance of early childhood education. As such, the nursery schools, playgroups, and kindergarten are boosting the Indonesian education and going beyond the traditional forms of learning. According to an independent survey, the number of Indonesian children enrolled in kindergarten is heightened in the recent years.

Acknowledging the necessity of education, the parents in Indonesia are willing to pay a much higher value to enroll their children in reputed preschools and develop a curated potential to withstand the complexities of life. Additionally, more women are getting engaged in teaching and entering the doors of workforce which is successfully empowering the playgroup and day care services. This scenario is creating prominent business opportunities for private as well as government institutions to go an extra-mile and create a one-of-its-kind history.

The Primary and Secondary Schools

The advent of technology and its implementation has empowered a huge number of schools with best-in-class qualities and facilities, thereby supporting the middle-class families. The boom of elite primary and secondary schools has remarkably filled the voids of traditional and new-age learning in Indonesia. Established to cater to the demands of urban, middle-class families, these schools are painting a distinctive canvas of knowledge for the children. They even offer a boarding programme which suits the needs of the families, where both parents are usually working. Offering bucketful of amenities and professional teachers, these schools are embracing the changes and transforming the students into the building blocks of tomorrow.

The Higher Education Framework

The existing as well as the emerging campuses are working in association with the foreign universities through the student and teacher exchange programs. Adding value to these operations are the grants and scholarships, dual degree, joint research, training, and publication, and many others. For smooth improvement in the quality of the higher educational institutions, the Indonesian Government is taking necessary strides to embrace technology and offer state-of-the-art learning experience to the students.

This outshines a myriad of restrictions which limit the commercialization of higher education by foreign institutions. This includes the obligation to adjust the programmes to local rules, culture and conditions including using Indonesian names. It also deals with the language and being an Indonesian legal entity, restricting the proportion of foreign faculty to forty percent, and the need to operate on a not-for-profit basis. This in turn has enhanced the attractiveness of the Indonesian higher education sector. It also enhances the economic potential and unlock new doors, where bigger universities would invest in Indonesia.

The E-Learning Approach

Researchers reveal that the number of internet and smartphone users in Indonesia is increasing da-by-day. As such, the educational institutions are opting for newer strategies to engage more and more students along with the foreign and domestic investors. Today, the Indonesian startups in the education sector are receiving funding from the investors. Moreover, the foreign startups in this sector are also eyeing Indonesia’s tech-savvy students and teachers and creating a platform of e-learning with an aim to deliver expert tutoring.

Currently, the e-education and e-learning are taking newer forms of website services and mobile app platforms on a large-scale. It is consistently revolutionizing the educational space with the growth of online and digital businesses. These efficient efforts are crafting out essential openings in the learning, where a child is developed as a responsible human and can fight to attain his basic needs.

The Next Big Thing

While 2017 was a challenging as well as opportunistic year for the Indonesian education sector, 2018 would be a year where it would trek to newer success heights. Taking on tech-enabled changes the education system would be developed as a high-quality brick capable of constructing strong learning outcomes. The future will witness more augmented, technocratic, and donor-sponsored education policy reforms that would frame better resourcing for schools and HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) along with better teacher training programs. This will grant secured institutional autonomy and decentralization of managerial responsibility in the coming years.

The next bigger thing would also include the development of strong educational links that would surely shape the evolution of Indonesian education system.