House Approves Re-Implementation of High School Majors, Starting in Grade 11

April 23, 2025 | 03:01 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives approved the plan to re-implement the majoring system at the Senior High School (SMA) level. The policy on majoring in high school will be officially announced by President Prabowo Subianto on the commemoration of National Education Day on May 2.

Deputy Chairman of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives Lalu Hadrian Irfani stated that this decision was taken after Commission X evaluated the applicable regulations and field studies by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen). He considered that the basis for eliminating majoring through Permendikbudristek Number 12 of 2024 was contrary to higher regulations.

"The Minister of Education and Culture Regulation contradicts Government Regulation Number 17 of 2010 which is still in effect. It clearly states that high schools are divided into science, social science, language, religion, and other majors," said Lalu Hadrian when met after a closed working meeting with the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Tuesday, April 22, 2025.

According to Lalu Hadrian, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will re-implement majors in grade 11, while in grade 10 students will take a talent and interest assessment to determine the suitability of the major. "So not only academic grades are considered, but also talent and interest assessments," he said.

He also emphasized that the new major scheme was designed so as not to cause a stigma like what happened before, where science majors were often considered superior to other majors. "Now science students can take two social science subjects, social science students can take two science subjects. The same goes for language," said Lalu Hadrian.

In addition, Lalu Hadrian said that this policy also addresses the problem of reduced teaching hours for teachers since the major system was abolished. He said that the Ministry of Education and Culture's study showed that 80 percent of respondents wanted the majoring system to be revived. "Although it has been formally abolished, in fact many schools still use the majoring system. This is a finding in the field," he said.

This policy, according to Lalu Hadrian, is the result of a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum and will be part of a combined curriculum model that is more adaptive to the needs of students and higher education. "So there has been a study from the Ministry of Education and Culture that is very rigid. There is an evaluation," he said.

The Minister of Elementary and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu'ti previously said that the majoring in Science, Social Studies and Language at the high school level would be reinstated as an effort to support the implementation of the Academic Ability Test (TKA). The TKA is planned to be implemented for grade XII students as one of the references in the selection for entering higher education.

"The TKA will be based on subjects to help the parties, especially students who continue to college. Well, because the test is based on subjects, in the future we will revive this major. So, later there will be more science, social science, and language majors," said Mu'ti in Jakarta, Friday, April 11, 2025.

Editor’s Choice: Education Ministry: Elimination of High School Majors Part of Merdeka Curriculum in Indonesia

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