The Grand Design for the 13-Year Compulsory Education Programme analyses the current conditions, challenges, problems, and opportunities surrounding senior high school (SMA) education — particularly in terms of expanding access, improving the quality of learning outcomes and processes, and strengthening the monitoring and evaluation framework for access and learning quality. This document is intended for provincial governments, as well as the broader public and other education stakeholders.

The two key issues — access and learning quality — are examined in this grand design. Participation rates in senior secondary education remain lower compared to primary and junior secondary education. In 2024, the senior secondary Net Enrolment Rate (NER) stood at 74.64%, significantly lower than primary education (99.19%) and junior secondary education (96.17%). Data analysis shows a need to rehabilitate 7,843 classrooms due to severe damage and to increase capacity by 6,687 new classrooms at the SMA level. In addition, there are still 4.18 million out-of-school children (OOSC) aged 6–18, of which approximately 2.8 million are aged 16–18. Therefore, efforts are urgently required to bring these OOSC back into formal or non-formal education — in line with the Ministry of Education’s vision of delivering quality education for all.

Challenges related to learning quality are no less critical than those of increasing access and participation. Students’ reasoning and problem-solving abilities — reflected in literacy and numeracy outcomes — remain a major concern. Meanwhile, the instructional leadership of school principals, the teaching quality of teachers, and their reflective abilities still require holistic and continuous development.

Nusa Widyantara supports the Directorate of Senior High Schools in undertaking the analysis for the development of this Grand Design for 13-Year Compulsory Education. The analysis informs efforts to expand access and improve learning quality — both at the macro level and through a detailed assessment of each province’s conditions and needs. These access and quality indicators provide the basis for meeting resource requirements and gradually allocating the necessary funding.