Inclusive Education in Indonesian Primary Schools: A Multidimensional Evaluation of Institutional Capacity and Systemic Disparities

Abstract

Inclusive education is and will always be a global commitment and a national mandate concerned with ensuring that all children along the age continuum are able to receive a quality education without any form of discrimination. In spite of considerable policy related efforts, the practice of inclusive education in Indonesia is still beset by a number of issues, including, but not limited to, the uneven distribution of qualified educators, the lack of policy advocacy coupled with poor educational infrastructure, and the uneven implementation of policy advocacy at the local government level. This is study focuses on the implementation of inclusive education at the primary school level in Indonesia, with particular reference to the seven major institutional dimensions.
An evaluative research design using a survey strategy was employed to collect data in 108 primary schools that have implemented inclusive education and were chosen through purposive sampling. The Inclusive School Self-Evaluation tool was modified to collect data, and data analyses were performed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis.
This study shows widespread variation in the quality of implementation across dimensions. The student-related dimension shows the most success followed by human resources (63%), and then school management (58%). On the other hand, facilities and infrastructure (23%), financing (36%), and community participation (47%) were the most deficient. Correlation analysis showed strong relationships between institutional management, curriculum and learning, and human resources. Regression analysis also showed significant urban-suburban differences, with urban schools outperforming suburban schools in the majority of dimensions.