Local Content Curriculum and Standardized National Examination in Indonesia

Abstract

This article explores the impact of national versus state initiatives in curriculum. In Indonesian context, the notion of local context curriculum and standardized national examination in Indonesia is being debated. The Local Curriculum Content and the national examination is not in line as a studied content and a given test. The content analysis is used to elaborate the phenomenon of what has been written on academic literature on the notion of national and state curriculum. The discussion concluded that the intention of opening the educational democracy opportunity to lower-level institutions by imposing the Local Curriculum Content could not be used effectively if the government of Indonesia does not support its implementation holistically. The gap between the Local Curriculum Content and the national exit examination still exists. Students still feel fearful that they will jeopardize their future by scoring one point less than the required minimum threshold in national exit examination. Therefore, Indonesia government needs to reconsider for determining students' graduation based on national standardized testing and give more opportunity for state government to apply the Local Curriculum Content.