# High School Education in a Variety of Regional Autonomy: Paradigm and Challenges

Authors: Ristapawa Indra; Mahyudin Ritonga; Martin Kustati; Rini Rini; Zulmuqim; Rahmat Iswanto; Asma Gheisari
Journal: Education Research International
 (2022)

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## Abstract

This study combines heuristic and phenomenological approaches to analyze past phenomena regarding issues related to the implementation of school autonomy. A naturalistic approach regarding contemporary logical phenomena is used to see the practice of school autonomy after being returned to the provincial government. The main data sources of this study were school principals, teachers, school committee administrators, education leaders, and experts who were selected at random. The results of the study revealed that, in the early phase of regional autonomy, schools had flexible authority in managing the contribution of the provincial government; quality control through the results of the National Examination became the main requirement in determining graduation and became a source of pride for district/city governments. District/city governments compete fiercely in achieving the highest ranking through the implementation of the National Examination. This causes cheating to often become a debated issue among education observers and the public regarding the implementation of the National Examination. The research findings show that, since 2017, the issue of cheating on the National Examination is no longer a frightening specter because student graduation is no longer only determined by the National Examination.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

When many education observers, including members of parliament, argued that the administration of a centralized bureaucratic government was not in accordance with the spirit of reform, Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy was issued. This was then followed up with Law No. 32 of 2004 which regulates the delegation of power from the central government to district/city governments, including the delegation of authority in the management of primary and secondary education. The granting of autonomy to district/city governments is expected to improve the quality of education because through autonomy, schools gain independency, flexibility, motivation, and creativity/initiative to improve the quality of education as one of the goals of national education [1–3].Therefore, since 2005, the central government has instructed district/city governments to manage schools with a school-based management approach and authorize schools to seek various resources to improve school quality [4, 5]. Along with the situation, the forum that previously played a role in gathering the participation of parents, called the Educational Assistance Agency (Badan Pembantu Penyelenggara Pendidikan—BPPP), was replaced with a new institution called the School Committee, which has a broader role to accommodate community participation apart from the parents [6].However, the policy of education autonomy is still a hot national debate. The issue of autonomy related to the authority of the district/city government in the administration of education has caused negative problems because it is no longer in accordance with regional autonomy. Supported by various expert arguments and research results, the implementation of Law No. 32 of 2004 concerning Regional Government raises several increasingly complex and dynamic problems. One of the problems that arise is that education is included in the political sphere by some candidates for regent/mayor. Educational issues have become hot issues in addition to socioeconomic and cultural issues in various opportunities and campaigns for candidates for regent/mayor. The issues raised by the candidates relate to promises in education, e.g., free tuition, scholarships, and school improvements. In the 2013 Padang Mayoral election, the policy of free education has become a political and populist policy that was initiated by the candidate pairs. Free education policies also exist in other areas, as stated by Fauzi [7]: Rembang Regency, Sukoharjo Regency, Semarang City, and Tegal City.According to Thoha [8] and Sabri Ali [9], the negative stigma towards the implementation of regional autonomy in various regions, for example, is caused by the dominance of the leadership of political officials over the government bureaucracy. Furthermore, Thoha [8] revealed that the government bureaucracy that was built to regulate the implementation of regional autonomy had changed its function into an engine for implementing regional leaders’ political policies. This is in line with [10–12] opinion that the supremacy of political officials over the government bureaucracy is a political phenomenon in new democracies. In addition, many education experts are of the opinion that the process of appointing a person to become a school principal is no longer in accordance with the bureaucratic order that has been established based on government regulations. In connection with this, the issue arose that the appointment of school principals and school supervisors currently ignores the provisions of the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture (Permendikbud) No. 28 of 2014 concerning the Granting of Equality of Position and Rank for Teachers who are not civil servants. The principal as an education provider at the school level has become an extension of the political interests of public officials at the district and city levels [13–16].The National Examination (UN) as the final stage of the learning process in schools, starting from planning, implementation, and evaluation, is also a central issue for local political interests [17]. The issue of the implementation of the National Examination carried out by several schools has raised public suspicion that there are still some frauds committed by the parties involved in its implementation [18, 19]. Many national and local print media reported about the implementation of the National Examination and questioned whether the National Examination was able to build student character or not. In this regard, school governance is also a political issue in the election of district and city heads [20–22].Educational issues related to the impact of educational autonomy on the implementation of education at the school level have given rise to many arguments by educators, observers, and education experts who argue that the implementation of educational autonomy is not fully in line with the spirit of reform. Competition and demands for ranking through the UN have caused several problems in its implementation.


### 1.1. Literature Review

There are many studies that discuss the implementation of autonomy. There is research on autonomy in the context of School-Based Management (SBM) [23–26]. Gaziel [25] concludes the results of research in Israel schools that greater school autonomy has a positive impact on teacher motivation and commitment and school achievement. The same view is also expressed by Arar and Nasra [24] that the granting of greater autonomy to schools has had a positive impact on teacher motivation and commitment and on school success, while the results of research by Kahraman and Subasi [26] concluded that granting authority to schools to regulate and manage the interests of school residents based on the aspirations of school residents will increase school community participation in realizing school achievement. The results of research by Miller and Tonigan [27] in the United Kingdom and New Zealand show that the granting of principals’ authority in the decision-making process has given schools the opportunity to formulate innovative and creative school programs. Gardiner [28] and King and Ozler [29] state that “enhanced community and parental involvement in EDUCO schools has improved students’ language skills and diminished absenteeism.” Jimenez and Sawada [30] concluded that the participation of the community and parents of students has a long-term impact in improving learning outcomes.Likewise, research in the state on the implementation of school autonomy has been widely discussed; there are 22 articles that discuss the implementation of school autonomy under the authority of the district/city government. Research by Herawati [31] focuses more on the political analysis of the transfer of management authority for SMA/SMK teachers from the district/city government to the provincial government. Meanwhile, Majir [32], Pohan [33], and Febriana et al. [6] also examine school autonomy but is more specific on the role of school committees in improving the quality of education. Then, the research of Rachmanta and Ikhsan [34, 35] and Zamroni [36] also examine autonomy in the implementation of the National Examination (UN) as a form of quality control of education, but the discussion is more on factors that influence cheating in the implementation of the UN, the pros and cons of implementing the UN, syndicates buying and selling UN answer keys, and school anxiety in implementing the UN. Next, there is also a study on school autonomy in terms of financing by Priyono [37] regarding education financing in the era of school autonomy, problems, and prospects. There are also discussions in the form of articles and not research results about the implementation of the National Examination and its impact on student character, such as an article published by the electronic newspaper Kompas (dated April 20, 2013). The portrait of the National Examination is a frightening specter, so that it is a factor that causes students to look for shortcuts to be able to graduate, which is also expressed by Kompasiana newspaper (https://www.kompasiana.com-2013).Based on the literature review above, it can be concluded that there is no comprehensive study on the portrait of the implementation of school autonomy in the aspects of education financing, the role of school committees, the process of appointing school principals, and school quality control through the implementation of the National Examination [38–41]. This research is expected to comprehensively present the implications of implementing school autonomy by the district/city government and by the provincial government. Therefore, information on the impact of implementing education autonomy by district/city governments will be valuable to support central government policies in formulating new formulations to measure and evaluate the quality of education in Indonesia.The purpose of this study is to describe the phenomenon of school autonomy under the authority of the district/city government from 2005 to October 2016 and the practice of implementing school autonomy at the high school level after being remanaged by the provincial government starting in January 2017 to the end of 2019.


## 1.1. Literature Review

There are many studies that discuss the implementation of autonomy. There is research on autonomy in the context of School-Based Management (SBM) [23–26]. Gaziel [25] concludes the results of research in Israel schools that greater school autonomy has a positive impact on teacher motivation and commitment and school achievement. The same view is also expressed by Arar and Nasra [24] that the granting of greater autonomy to schools has had a positive impact on teacher motivation and commitment and on school success, while the results of research by Kahraman and Subasi [26] concluded that granting authority to schools to regulate and manage the interests of school residents based on the aspirations of school residents will increase school community participation in realizing school achievement. The results of research by Miller and Tonigan [27] in the United Kingdom and New Zealand show that the granting of principals’ authority in the decision-making process has given schools the opportunity to formulate innovative and creative school programs. Gardiner [28] and King and Ozler [29] state that “enhanced community and parental involvement in EDUCO schools has improved students’ language skills and diminished absenteeism.” Jimenez and Sawada [30] concluded that the participation of the community and parents of students has a long-term impact in improving learning outcomes.Likewise, research in the state on the implementation of school autonomy has been widely discussed; there are 22 articles that discuss the implementation of school autonomy under the authority of the district/city government. Research by Herawati [31] focuses more on the political analysis of the transfer of management authority for SMA/SMK teachers from the district/city government to the provincial government. Meanwhile, Majir [32], Pohan [33], and Febriana et al. [6] also examine school autonomy but is more specific on the role of school committees in improving the quality of education. Then, the research of Rachmanta and Ikhsan [34, 35] and Zamroni [36] also examine autonomy in the implementation of the National Examination (UN) as a form of quality control of education, but the discussion is more on factors that influence cheating in the implementation of the UN, the pros and cons of implementing the UN, syndicates buying and selling UN answer keys, and school anxiety in implementing the UN. Next, there is also a study on school autonomy in terms of financing by Priyono [37] regarding education financing in the era of school autonomy, problems, and prospects. There are also discussions in the form of articles and not research results about the implementation of the National Examination and its impact on student character, such as an article published by the electronic newspaper Kompas (dated April 20, 2013). The portrait of the National Examination is a frightening specter, so that it is a factor that causes students to look for shortcuts to be able to graduate, which is also expressed by Kompasiana newspaper (https://www.kompasiana.com-2013).Based on the literature review above, it can be concluded that there is no comprehensive study on the portrait of the implementation of school autonomy in the aspects of education financing, the role of school committees, the process of appointing school principals, and school quality control through the implementation of the National Examination [38–41]. This research is expected to comprehensively present the implications of implementing school autonomy by the district/city government and by the provincial government. Therefore, information on the impact of implementing education autonomy by district/city governments will be valuable to support central government policies in formulating new formulations to measure and evaluate the quality of education in Indonesia.The purpose of this study is to describe the phenomenon of school autonomy under the authority of the district/city government from 2005 to October 2016 and the practice of implementing school autonomy at the high school level after being remanaged by the provincial government starting in January 2017 to the end of 2019.


## 2. Methods

This study uses a qualitative paradigm by combining a heuristic approach and a narrative approach. The heuristic method with five steps is used to analyze past phenomena, while the narrative approach is used to ask respondents to retell their experiences in narrative chronology on issues of school autonomy practice by district/city governments from 2005 to 2016 and return to government autonomy province from January 2017 to 2019. The researcher acts as a key instrument in collecting research data through documentation techniques, behavioral observation, and interviews with participants. The selection of informants was carried out by purposive sampling with the consideration that respondents were considered the most knowledgeable about what the researcher wanted so that it would be easier to obtain the social situation under study. The main informants selected were the Principal of the Padang City Public High School as many as 16 people, four teachers from each school, eight school committee administrators who were randomly selected to be interviewed representing four schools, and five education leaders. This qualitative data analysis technique is carried out interactively by interpreting or interpreting the data by asking triangulation questions using a theoretical perspective [42, 43].


## 3. Discussion and Results

### 3.1. School Autonomy under the Authority of the Regency/City Government

The consequences of the reform and the enactment of Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy, which was then followed up by Law No. 32/2004 on regional government, regulate the change of power from the central government to district governments. The delegation of power includes the authority to manage primary and secondary education, both public and private, from the provincial government to district/city governments (Syufiarma, interview on 24 June 2020).Prior to regional autonomy, senior high schools were managed by a vertical agency of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kanwil Depdikbud) led by the Head of the Regional Office (Kakanwil). Kakanwil is appointed by the Minister of Education and Culture on the recommendation of the Governor and appointed by the Governor. When under the authority of the Provincial Office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the authority to transfer and rotate high school principals covers the province. Quality mapping also covers the province by rotating the head of a successful high school in the district to improve academic achievement; it can be predicted that, in the next mutation, he will be transferred to lead one of the favorite high schools in the provincial capital. According to Burhasman, a successful high school principal with experience in several rotations/mutations is also recruited to lead the district/city-level education work area as head of the district/city Department of Education and Culture (Kakandepdikbud) Office, as long as the person concerned has good social relations with Regent/Mayor. Although it is the authority of the Regional Head of Education and Culture to appoint a person as Head of Education and Culture Headquarters, it requires support and recommendations from the Regent/Mayor because the Regent/Mayor is authorized to inaugurate him (Jasrial, interview on 27 June 2020).After high school is managed by the district/city government, the consequence is that human resources are limited and the mutation space is only limited to the district/city area. Even in some cases in district/city areas, the performance of high school principals is controlled by the Head of the Education Office who does not have a Bachelor of Education/Masters of Education background and does not have a teacher background (Jasrial, interview on 27 June 2020). He further stated that the District/City Education Office is a political position that can be occupied by anyone as long as the Regent/Mayor appoints them. This condition reflects that everyone feels competent to take care of education because the size of the quality of education is oriented to the ranking of the results of the National Examination from schools (Jasrial, interview on 27 June 2020).Education financing is the full responsibility of the district/city government, starting from the financing of the nine-year basic education level to the high school education level (SMA/SMK). Especially for SMA/SMK in order to maximize education financing, with the issuance of the Decree of the Minister of National Education No. 014/U/2002 dated April 2, 2002, the Education Assistance Agency (BPPP) was declared invalid. Instead, at the education unit level, a School Committee can be formed on the initiative of the school and the community. For this reason, schools must be able to convince parents, local governments, entrepreneurs, and the community in general that the school is a credible school so that politically the education budget does not only come from the district/city government and the central government but is also managed by schools and the community through the School Committee [33].The district/city government determines the amount of the education fee in the form of a monthly compulsory Education Financing Contribution and a development contribution charged to new students. In addition, schools also receive aid funds from the APBD in the form of Education Operational Costs (Biaya Operasional Pendidikan—BOP) and funds for the construction of rehabilitation and new classrooms (Ruang Kelas Baru—RKB) from the central government.In the initial phase of regional autonomy, schools have flexible authority in using educational contributions which are managed together with school committees. Musriwandy, a community leader, said that at the beginning of each academic year, the district/city government determines the amount of the monthly tuition fee to be paid and the initial development contribution to be paid by students (interview on 29 June 2020). A teacher who had been a principal in the early phase of school autonomy gave the view that in the financing aspect, there was relief for schools to design school budgets with the committee. The average School Revenue and Expenditure Budget Plan (Rancangan Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Sekolah—RAPBS) for favorite schools in the city center sourced from school committees is around 2–2.5 billion per year (Masril, interview on 25 June 2020). As further explained by Masril, if the school has 950 students, the source of funds coming from SPP is 950 peoplex Rp. 150,000 = Rp. 142,500,000 per month and in one year around Rp. 1,710,000,000, while the development contribution for new students is 324 students x Rp. 1000,000 = 324,000,000, with a total of Rp. 2,034,000,000. The use of school budgets sourced from school committees is truly flexible and not rigid as long as its use has been agreed upon by the Committee Chair and the use of accountability is only examined by the district/city inspectorate (interview on 25th of June 2020).During the regional autonomy period, the education budget as mandated by Law No. 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System, article 49, states that the government (central and regional) must allocate a minimum of 20% of its budget for the needs of the education sector excluding education salaries and official education costs have not been implemented. The average percentage of the development budget to the APBD is only 3.14%, while the highest percentage is only 10%, still very far from the 20% target mandated by the National Education System Law. Therefore, the role of school committees in financing education is highly expected to support the success of school programs, although their role is still limited as parents of students [44–46].


### 3.2. The Role of the School Committee

The interesting thing today is that the school committee, which ideally has an expanded role from BPPP, is not running as it should. The efforts of the School Committee management in raising education funds are still limited as parents of students and have not reached the industrial world and entrepreneurs and groups of community leaders who care about education. Even the roles and functions of school committees as outlined by the Decree of the Minister of National Education No. 014/U/2002 dated April 2, 2002, have not been implemented properly. The former Deputy Head of the Education Office of West Sumatra Province, Jasrial (interview on June 15, 2020), said that an interesting phenomenon regarding the role and function of school committees is that the School Committee acts as an executor, approving and legalizing school programs that have been prepared by schools to be implemented. School committees, this type of executor, do not want to be involved in formulating school programs and even they do not understand the vision and mission of high-quality schools [47–49].Another phenomenon of the school committee management is the condition where the head of the school committee serves all the time without any rotation. In fact, even though the election was held, the one chosen was still the Chairman of the Committee. The principal tends to maintain the school committee which acts as a stamp maker because it is seen as not disturbing the comfort of the school in the financial aspect. The phenomenon of school committee management throughout this period is related to the direct involvement of community leaders in land acquisition for the construction of the New School Unit. Damri (interview on 22 June 2020), a community leader in Pauh Padang village, gave the view that this phenomenon was related to the government’s limitations in land acquisition for the construction of the New School Unit (Unit Sekolah Baru—USB) to accommodate community children who were not accepted into the main school and the communal Minangkabau land ownership system. The matrilineal Minangkabau community does not adhere to an individual ownership system, but land is a high inheritance under the control of Mamak as the representative of the family. Finally, this phenomenon has made community leaders become committee administrators for all time and act like foundation administrators.


### 3.3. Engage in Activities That Are Not Relevant to Quality Improvement

Another specific thing in the regional autonomy phase is that schools are busy with various activities that are not related to improving the quality of education. Mass mobilization supported by the mobilization of high school students in large numbers is a very practical way to make the incumbent Regent/Mayor political program a success. From the results of interviews with 16 teachers who served as student advisors at schools, it can be concluded that agencies such as the TNI/Polri, Prosecutor’s Office, and others that do not carry out an educational mission also often ask for help from the school to mobilize students to participate in various activities carried out by the agency. According to Masril, a former school principal in the autonomy era, the average school involvement at the high school level every month was about 5–10 activities. Meanwhile, the mobility of these activities is not budgeted for in the school’s RAPBS.


### 3.4. Educational Autonomy: The Misunderstanding of Teachers’ Main Duties

In relation to quality control, especially in the learning process, teacher commitment in carrying out tasks is guided by the Education Unit Level Curriculum (KTSP) and 2013 Curriculum. The decline in school rankings or school graduations that have not reached the specified graduation standards are often related to the curriculum, teacher commitment, and teacher responsibilities. In this case, school principals, school committees, and community leaders share the same view that the commitment of teachers in their duties is limited to carrying out the learning process according to a set schedule. When the question of the quality of education is questioned to the teacher, the teacher reveals that their time is spent by curriculum components which take up too much time for planning and evaluation aspects. Learning tools based on the KTSP curriculum and the 2013 curriculum are too burdensome for teacher performance. Regarding the teacher’s workload, the Regent and Mayor treat teachers like an office employee who has to work a minimum of 9 hours a day from 7.30 to 16.30 with a span of 40 hours one week and five working days. The Regent/Mayor as the holder of the regional autonomy authority does not understand that the workload of a teacher is not measured based on the attendance of working hours in the office. The teacher’s workload is measured based on the main tasks of the teacher starting from the planning stage, implementation stage, and learning evaluation stage. The planning and evaluation stages can be carried out by teachers at school or mostly done at home (Yenni Putri, Azwarman, Risdaneti, Musry Wandi, and Asnul ZA, interview on 29 June 2020).In the planning stage, the teacher first prepares learning tools starting from the syllabus, lesson plans, and supporting media for daily materials. The lesson plan must be prepared by the teacher every time a face-to-face meeting in class; the time used for planning is equivalent to 24 face-to-face credits in one week. Then, at the process stage, the teacher carries out the learning process in the form of face-to-face interaction in class with a mandatory 24 credit hours a week for teachers who are certified educators, while at the evaluation stage, the teacher evaluates the assignment of individuals and groups of students. If the subjects he teaches are equivalent to 3 hours face-to-face, it means he has to teach 8 study groups, with each study group having 36 students, which means that there are around 288 worksheets that the teacher must check every week, which is equivalent to 24 hours a week. Therefore, the total time spent by teachers from planning, implementing, and evaluating is equivalent to 3 × 24 credits a week. Because the workload is too much, the consequence is that teachers understand that all school activities are the responsibility of school leaders. Teachers often do not participate in extracurricular activities, and even they often do not make time to deal with problematic students.


### 3.5. Cheating in National Examination

Based on structured interviews with informants who used to be high school principals during the regional autonomy period, he stated that controlling the quality of education in the evaluation aspect of the final stage of schooling is a learning process at the school level that cannot be separated from the role of the Regent/Mayor. The National Examination which should be used as a benchmark for evaluating the learning process in schools in its implementation is often not in accordance with the expectations of many parties [34]. Deviations in the implementation of the National Examination lead to distrust of some people towards the parties involved in the implementation of the National Examination [50, 51]. The demand for competition between districts/cities for ranking in the implementation of the National Examination is also a trigger for dishonesty in the implementation of the National Examination. The school leadership by the district/city government is involved in practical politics to get the highest rank through a fraudulently administered National Examination.Cheating on the National Examination is shown through loose supervision of the National Examination, leaked answer keys, and the existence of a file buying and selling syndicate. Dishonesty in the National Examination is justified by the results of Zamroni research [36] that have found practices of cheating, manipulation, and dishonesty carried out by irresponsible persons with various modes. The results of Bosch’s study [52] also show that the National Examination cannot be used as a tool to improve the quality of education, but rather aims to increase the prestige of school institutions and the prestige of the district/city government. Phenomenon in the form of cheating on the National Examination is also justified by the Ombudsman, parents of students, and the community.The factors that cause cheating in the National Examination, after triangulation tests with several sources, are due to the 12-year compulsory education program, the assessment of school academic achievement based on National Examination rankings, the target of passing 100%, and administrative pressure from the district/city government. This is the cause of the lax supervision of the National Examination. That is, it is strictly monitored because with the 12-year compulsory education program, all students must eventually graduate [35, 53–55].Cheating that occurs in the National Examination is not only committed by students but also by teachers and school institutions; there is even an act of omission by the district/city government. The findings of this study are in line with the results of research abroad conducted by Hauptman [56], which showed that so far the general public often identified exam cheating behavior as generally carried out by students, such a view should be changed because of the fact that many teachers commit academic fraud, generally the action taken is omission by pretending not to know the cheating committed by their students [57, 58].In addition, the results of research by Thakkar [59] on teachers’ reactions to academic cheating found that the majority of teachers who witnessed cheating did not report the incident to the examination committee. The results of Barrett et al. [60] study of 235 schools in South Carolina on teachers’ perceptions of the frequency and seriousness of ethical violations found that more than 25% of respondents stated 7 categories of behavior that often occur in schools, one of which is increasing student grades (cheating on exams) because of pressure from the central administrator. Meanwhile, the results of Thomas and De Bruin’s research [61] explain that there are other possibilities that cause academic fraud related to the possibility of inaccuracies in the implementation of the education system compared to personal errors within the students themselves. Thomas and De Bruin (2012) stated that, in the occurrence of academic fraud, the public should not always only question the character of the students, but it would be wiser if the community also questioned the prevailing education system. The results of this study mean that the implementation of the National Examination as a mechanism of the national education system to measure the quality of education has distorted which causes schools to do practical things such as a successful National Examination program, 100% graduation target, and ranking of National Examination results as a symbol of district/city prestige. This means that school autonomy is under the grip of the district/city government bureaucracy which authorizes the Regent/Mayor in the appointment of school principals, and quality control at the school level is the main cause of distortion of the quality of education. The National Examination is no longer a natural measuring tool to evaluate the learning process carried out by schools, but becomes an instrument that describes the performance of school institutions and the performance of district/city governments.


### 3.6. Regional Autonomy: Decentralization versus the Autonomy of Nagari Minangkabau

The concept of decentralization put forward by experts in various studies of political science and government science is the transfer of planning, decision-making, or administrative authority from the central government to local government organizations [62, 63]. The context of decentralization in this understanding emphasizes that the authority received by the regions is related to the whole process in activities that are under the authority of the Regent/Mayor, starting from planning and decision-making, implementing what has been planned, and monitoring and evaluating the success of what has been implemented. The concept of decentralization is understood by the Regents and Mayors as a political policy related to many things, including in the field of education.Such an understanding makes the Regent/Mayor have the power and central authority to politicize the areas that are their power and authority. The process of appointing echeloning officials starting from the lower level of echelon IV to the highest level of echelon II and the appointment of elementary school principals to high school/vocational school principals is centered on the power of the regent/mayor. The consequence that occurs is the sole loyalty of all levels of echeloning officials to the Regent/Mayor because they are appointed and inaugurated by the Regent/Mayor. Indeed, the recruitment process continues to start from the proposals of each agency and then forward to the Regional Personnel Agency through the coordination of the duties of the Position and Rank Advisory Board under the leadership of the Regional Secretary as the regional staffing supervisor. However, in practice, this process cannot be separated from the political policies of a Regent/Mayor. Therefore, the reality that occurs according to Thoha [8] is that the implementation of regional autonomy has created a stigma on the domination of political officials over the government bureaucracy.The phenomenon that occurs is that there are still appointments of education officials in regions full of political interests. There is a Head of the Education Office who is held by people who do not have an educational professional background. Educational leadership is a professional position that must understand well about the vision and mission of education and have pedagogical abilities and professional abilities, that is, someone who understands well the student’s study habits and understands well about learning tools. Educational leadership does not only talk about influence but also has managerial abilities about the field of work that he leads. Therefore, educational leadership in schools is a teacher who has more abilities than the average teacher in the school community. It is impossible for a school principal to have effective learning leadership if he does not have knowledge about learning tools, starting from the ability to compose a syllabus, lesson plans, and evaluation.In this regard, the guidelines for the appointment of a person to become a school principal have been set by the Ministry of National Education with Permendiknas No. 28 of 2010 concerning the assignment of teachers as principals to go through a selection, training, and education process for prospective principals. In practice, the selection process has never been carried out by the district/city Education Office. On average, a person becomes a principal for 1-2 years at the longest; there are even six months when he has been replaced as a principal for no apparent reason. Indeed, in the first 10 years of the regional autonomy era by the district/city, the position of the principal was like soft jelly and had to have psychological endurance to be able to accept the situation if at any time one had to be dismissed.The consequence of the condition of the vulnerability of the principal’s position that can be replaced at any time is the emergence of principals who do not have integrity. What they are doing is not thinking about quality improvement but showing fawning behavior in the sense of giving birth to leader behavior that prioritizes an emotional approach and not a work approach. Working professionally and feeling comfortable to work is not the motto of the principal in this era of regional autonomy, usually the first two years of the Regent/Mayor’s term of office will end when the principal’s work orientation has turned into a successful team illegally from the incumbent Regent/Mayor. This condition is an opportunity for school leadership to strengthen its position as school principal in order to survive in his position.Then, the issue of buying and selling school principal positions is a logical phenomenon that is closely related to the high-cost regional election process, a condition that cannot be denied as the cause of many regents/mayors who stumble in corruption cases. That is, the sale and purchase of positions is not a new matter in the era of direct democracy by involving the voice of the people. Based on data from 2004 to 2018, there were 104 regional heads stumbling over corruption (https://www.merdeka.com/events/data-2004-2018-104-heads-region-tersandung-korupsi-paling-banyak-di-jawa-east.html).The solution to this deviation from decentralization in democratic practice by placing the power of the Regent/Mayor as the central power can be overcome by creating a tiered distribution of power. The appointment of echelonering officials by the regent is limited to the official head of the service; then, the head of the service has the authority to inaugurate lower-level officials he brings. This solution will be able to create a cohesive work team. Each level of the echeloning official will be loyal to the higher level official who appointed him. If everything is done in an authoritative way, they do not obey their superiors, so they are more obedient to the Regent/Mayor than to the Head of Section and the Head of the Regency/City Education Office. As a result, the things that are considered important by the head of department and the head of the service are not necessarily considered important by the Regent/Mayor because they are the ones who appoint and inaugurate them.


### 3.7. Back to Provincial Government Autonomy on January 1, 2017

The policy of transferring management of SMA/SMK is enforced nationally on the basis of the mandate of Law No. 23 of 2014. It operated technically from January 1, 2017, and the management of SMA/SMK education has become the authority of the provincial government, so the district/city government as an autonomous region may not hold and transfer employees in SMA/SMK starting October 2016, except for the principal for reasons that cannot be postponed. During this transition period, the district/city Education Office must do the migration process of personnel and asset data to the West Sumatra Provincial Education Office (UU No. 23/2014).The transfer of management of SMA/SMK to the provincial government did not go smoothly, essentially all Regents/Mayors throughout Indonesia objected to the transfer of management of secondary schools. The objection was carried out in the form of a judicial review by the Mayor of Blitar Samanhudi Anwar and the Surabaya City government. In particular, the judicial review was carried out on Article 1 paragraph 3, Article 28D paragraph 1, and Article 18 paragraph 2 and then Article 18A paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 and Article 28C paragraph 2. In its explanation, the Constitutional Court stated that, in the regional government law, education is included in the classification of government affairs divided by center, region, and city. The division is based on aspects of accountability, efficiency, externalities, and national strategy. The division, according to the Constitutional Court, does not contradict the 1945 Constitution.The first step in the process of implementing the transfer of authority to manage SMA/SMK by the provincial government of West Sumatra through the provincial education office is to inaugurate and reaffirm the principals of SMA/SMK public schools throughout West Sumatra in stages based on the Decree of the Governor of West Sumatra while still being placed in schools that are being led, except for the principal who is entering retirement age and who does not reach the passing grade from the recompetency test is immediately replaced and a new principal is appointed who has passed the test for prospective principals.After three years under the authority of the Provincial Education Office from January 1, 2017, to the end of December 2019, it can be said that there is no transfer of principals except for filling vacant positions left by principals who are entering retirement age. The results of interviews with school principals concluded that after returning to provincial autonomy, they are more comfortable in carrying out their duties because they are far from mutation issues that roll around at any time under district/city autonomy (Parendangan, interview on 29 June 2020). Since being re-established as a school principal based on the West Sumatra Governor’s Decree in early 2017 until the end of 2019, there has not been a transfer issue set by the head of the provincial education office (Yenni Putri, interview on 29 June 2020).Regarding public participation in education financing, it is still carried out through the school committee, but the obstacle that occurs is the wrong perception from the community and the Ombudsman about the meaning of donations and fees. Donations that are voluntary and not coercive are used by parents without heeding the agreement of the school committee. Obstacles in gathering parental participation for education are also a logical consequence of the promises of free regent/mayor candidates during the Pilkada campaign with the flagship program of free schools ranging from basic education to secondary education. The community, especially parents of students who had enjoyed the free education program by the Padang city government for the 2014/2015 academic year until the transfer period to the provincial government, objected to implementing the results of the school committee meeting agreement on the donations of parents to finance school programs (Yan Finanda, interview on June 28, 2020).Parental contributions collected by the school committee have become wild balls because the empowerment of parental participation through school committees is not strengthened by the Governor’s Regulation as the legal umbrella for the School Committee. The results of the parents’ agreement in the form of donations lead to the interpretation of functions for law enforcement. The Ombudsman whose function is to oversee the implementation of public services, including the implementation of public services by schools, and the special detachment, Corruption Crimes (Tipikor), as a special unit to eradicate corruption formed by the National Police are two institutions that can provide different interpretations of the contributions of parents of students who have received be decided by the school committee. The school committee, which has the authority to raise funds, usually delegates it to the school by appointing one of the school’s education staff to collect assistance from the parents of students on the basis of a meeting agreement. Collecting the results of the parents’ meeting agreement through students is often categorized as an act of malpractice by the ombudsman because of reports in the form of anonymous letters by parents of students to the institution. At the same time, this phenomenon has also become the object of investigation and investigation by the local police Corruption Unit. In some cases, people even reported to the prosecutor’s office the problems related to parental donations which were categorized as levies. This problem should be solved with a firm legal umbrella from the provincial government and concretely stipulating the form and amount of community participation from parents every month, with the exception of poor students on the basis of a certificate from poor parents from the local government.Meanwhile, school financing sourced from School Operational Assistance (Bantuan Operasional Sekolah—BOS) funds is channeled from the Ministry of Finance through the Provincial General Treasury Account (Rekening Kas Umum Daerah—RKUD) and then forwarded to school accounts with a distribution frequency of 4 times per year with a portion of stage 1 (20%). stage II (40%), stage III (20%), and stage IV (20%) (https://edukasi.kompas.com/read/2020/02/11/%2015253481/beda-policy-dana-bos-2020-and-boss-2019). With regard to the use of BOS funds, the guidelines are very clear; the school uses BOS funds according to the items of use that are allowed and accounted for online through the https://bos.kemdikbud.go.id/ page. This aims to increase accountability for the use of BOS funds by the school.However, in 2019, there were still five secondary schools that were used as a trial by the prosecutor regarding the accountability report for the use of BOS funds that had been submitted online to the Ministry of Education and Culture. The results of the survey and field interviews showed that the investigation process by law enforcement on the accountability report for BOS funds created an atmosphere of discomfort on the part of the school. From one side of the accountability report submitted online by the school, there were no findings by the Ministry or the provincial inspectorate who had the internal authority to oversee and examine the school’s accountability report. In fact, they are still being processed by investigators from the Prosecutor’s Office on the reports of NGOs. For this reason, the provincial government must coordinate with law enforcement authorities on forms of violations that must be continued at the investigation stage by the Corruption Eradication Unit and Prosecutor’s Office. This is done in order to maintain the dignity and good name of the school leadership who is also an educator.The involvement of schools in the nature of mobilizing large numbers of students at provincial level events that are not in direct contact with the learning process or improving the quality of schools is much less or virtually nonexistent when compared to the era of SMA/SMK under the authority of the district/city. While the implications in aspects of the curriculum and the learning process are in principle no difference, teachers are still required to be committed to continuing to carry out teaching assignments for a minimum of 24 credits for professionally certified teachers.The return of SMA to provincial autonomy spread across 19 districts/cities; the challenges faced are related to the range of management control and assets of the Village Empowerment Development Program (Program Pengembangan Pemberdayaan Desa—P3D). Therefore, for smooth governance, the West Sumatra Provincial Government has established eight branch offices of the Education Office in several areas, such as in Padang Pariaman Regency and Pariaman City being combined into one branch office work area, as well as Agam Regency and Bukittinggi City which are geographically close and merged into the work area of the branch office. Meanwhile for Padang, because SMA/SMK is close to the Provincial Education Office, it is directly under the work responsibility of the provincial office.Furthermore, with regard to quality control, the implementation of the National Examination remains a measuring tool for the quality of SMA/SMK management, and its implementation has been gradually increased from a paper-based National Examination or Paper-Based Test (PBT) to a Computer-Based National Examination (Ujian Nasional Berbasis Komputer—UNBK) also known as the Computer-Based Test (CBT). Nationally, the UNBK pilot was carried out in 2015 by involving 135 SMA/MA and 379 SMK in 29 provinces and abroad. In 2016, UNBK was held by involving 1298 SMA/MA and 2100 SMK. The number of schools participating in the 2017 UNBK jumped sharply to 9,652 SMA/MA and 9,829 SMK. The increasing number of UNBK schools in 2017 is in line with the resource-sharing policy issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture, which allows schools with limited computer facilities to carry out UNBK in other schools with adequate computer facilities.The implementation of the UNBK-based National Examination is intended to minimize cheating in the implementation of the exam, but the reality as conveyed by the Minister of Education and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, is that the National Examination is still colored by cheating for the sake of cheating. Although the results of the UN are no longer a requirement to determine graduation, the integrity index that was previously glorified as a determinant of honesty, continued Muhadjir, can no longer be fully held. This is because the integrity index is already known and considered by some staff in the education environment. Cheating on the National Examination, he continued, was also caused by the encouragement of the bureaucracy, in which the local government made the National Examination as a benchmark for achievement. Hence, the practice of cheating occurs massively and involves a number of people in schools. Meanwhile, several research results also show that the less stringent aspects of UNBK supervision have opened up gaps for test takers to cheat. The Ministry of Education and Culture recorded that there were 202 complaints of cheating during the 2019 National Examination at the SMA/SMK/MA level. The Inspector General of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Muchlis R. Luddin, said the number of fraud cases shrank to 126 cases after being verified. Muchlis further stated that complaints of fraud continued to increase from year to year with details of 71 participants complaining in 2017, 79 participants complaining in 2018, and 126 participants complaining in 2019. In 2019, the form of cheating that occurred was taking pictures of questions from a computer with a cellphone which are to be shared with other students (https://tirto.id/ds9Y;https://tirto.id/unbk-diwarnai-kecurangan-apa-yang-mesti-dilaku-kemendikbud-ds9Y).Meanwhile, regarding the implementation of the National Examination in Padang City in 2019, out of 45 public and private high schools (SMA) in Padang City, 28 schools will still hold a Paper and Pencil-Based National Examination (UNKP) or manual. Only 17 schools will carry out the Computer-Based National Examination (UNBK) (https://padangmedia.com/45-sma-di-kota-padang-gelar-un-28-school-masih-manual/). So how big is the fraud index for the implementation of the UN in West Sumatra? Five regions with levels of fraud in the implementation of the National Examination below 20% are Jogyakarta, Bangka Belitung, North Kalimantan, Bengkulu, and the Riau Archipelago. Meanwhile, the remaining 28 provinces have an integrity index with a fraud percentage above 20% and some even reach 80% (https://mediaindonesia.com/%20read/detail/17729).However, an interesting phenomenon is that fraud is no longer a part of society’s problems. Previously, when the results of the National Examination became uncertain in student graduation, cheating became the talk of parents and the general public and the answer keys scattered after the exam became the main issue about cheating on the National Examination in Padang City. After the National Examination is determined to be no longer the main requirement in determining graduation, the cheating that occurs is no longer part of and belongs to the community. From 2017 until the 2019 National Examination, the issue of UN fraud in West Sumatra in general and the city of Padang in particular has disappeared from the comments of parents and the general public. In addition, the UN ranking for districts/cities is no longer a proud prestige for regional heads.


## 3.1. School Autonomy under the Authority of the Regency/City Government

The consequences of the reform and the enactment of Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy, which was then followed up by Law No. 32/2004 on regional government, regulate the change of power from the central government to district governments. The delegation of power includes the authority to manage primary and secondary education, both public and private, from the provincial government to district/city governments (Syufiarma, interview on 24 June 2020).Prior to regional autonomy, senior high schools were managed by a vertical agency of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kanwil Depdikbud) led by the Head of the Regional Office (Kakanwil). Kakanwil is appointed by the Minister of Education and Culture on the recommendation of the Governor and appointed by the Governor. When under the authority of the Provincial Office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the authority to transfer and rotate high school principals covers the province. Quality mapping also covers the province by rotating the head of a successful high school in the district to improve academic achievement; it can be predicted that, in the next mutation, he will be transferred to lead one of the favorite high schools in the provincial capital. According to Burhasman, a successful high school principal with experience in several rotations/mutations is also recruited to lead the district/city-level education work area as head of the district/city Department of Education and Culture (Kakandepdikbud) Office, as long as the person concerned has good social relations with Regent/Mayor. Although it is the authority of the Regional Head of Education and Culture to appoint a person as Head of Education and Culture Headquarters, it requires support and recommendations from the Regent/Mayor because the Regent/Mayor is authorized to inaugurate him (Jasrial, interview on 27 June 2020).After high school is managed by the district/city government, the consequence is that human resources are limited and the mutation space is only limited to the district/city area. Even in some cases in district/city areas, the performance of high school principals is controlled by the Head of the Education Office who does not have a Bachelor of Education/Masters of Education background and does not have a teacher background (Jasrial, interview on 27 June 2020). He further stated that the District/City Education Office is a political position that can be occupied by anyone as long as the Regent/Mayor appoints them. This condition reflects that everyone feels competent to take care of education because the size of the quality of education is oriented to the ranking of the results of the National Examination from schools (Jasrial, interview on 27 June 2020).Education financing is the full responsibility of the district/city government, starting from the financing of the nine-year basic education level to the high school education level (SMA/SMK). Especially for SMA/SMK in order to maximize education financing, with the issuance of the Decree of the Minister of National Education No. 014/U/2002 dated April 2, 2002, the Education Assistance Agency (BPPP) was declared invalid. Instead, at the education unit level, a School Committee can be formed on the initiative of the school and the community. For this reason, schools must be able to convince parents, local governments, entrepreneurs, and the community in general that the school is a credible school so that politically the education budget does not only come from the district/city government and the central government but is also managed by schools and the community through the School Committee [33].The district/city government determines the amount of the education fee in the form of a monthly compulsory Education Financing Contribution and a development contribution charged to new students. In addition, schools also receive aid funds from the APBD in the form of Education Operational Costs (Biaya Operasional Pendidikan—BOP) and funds for the construction of rehabilitation and new classrooms (Ruang Kelas Baru—RKB) from the central government.In the initial phase of regional autonomy, schools have flexible authority in using educational contributions which are managed together with school committees. Musriwandy, a community leader, said that at the beginning of each academic year, the district/city government determines the amount of the monthly tuition fee to be paid and the initial development contribution to be paid by students (interview on 29 June 2020). A teacher who had been a principal in the early phase of school autonomy gave the view that in the financing aspect, there was relief for schools to design school budgets with the committee. The average School Revenue and Expenditure Budget Plan (Rancangan Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Sekolah—RAPBS) for favorite schools in the city center sourced from school committees is around 2–2.5 billion per year (Masril, interview on 25 June 2020). As further explained by Masril, if the school has 950 students, the source of funds coming from SPP is 950 peoplex Rp. 150,000 = Rp. 142,500,000 per month and in one year around Rp. 1,710,000,000, while the development contribution for new students is 324 students x Rp. 1000,000 = 324,000,000, with a total of Rp. 2,034,000,000. The use of school budgets sourced from school committees is truly flexible and not rigid as long as its use has been agreed upon by the Committee Chair and the use of accountability is only examined by the district/city inspectorate (interview on 25th of June 2020).During the regional autonomy period, the education budget as mandated by Law No. 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System, article 49, states that the government (central and regional) must allocate a minimum of 20% of its budget for the needs of the education sector excluding education salaries and official education costs have not been implemented. The average percentage of the development budget to the APBD is only 3.14%, while the highest percentage is only 10%, still very far from the 20% target mandated by the National Education System Law. Therefore, the role of school committees in financing education is highly expected to support the success of school programs, although their role is still limited as parents of students [44–46].


## 3.2. The Role of the School Committee

The interesting thing today is that the school committee, which ideally has an expanded role from BPPP, is not running as it should. The efforts of the School Committee management in raising education funds are still limited as parents of students and have not reached the industrial world and entrepreneurs and groups of community leaders who care about education. Even the roles and functions of school committees as outlined by the Decree of the Minister of National Education No. 014/U/2002 dated April 2, 2002, have not been implemented properly. The former Deputy Head of the Education Office of West Sumatra Province, Jasrial (interview on June 15, 2020), said that an interesting phenomenon regarding the role and function of school committees is that the School Committee acts as an executor, approving and legalizing school programs that have been prepared by schools to be implemented. School committees, this type of executor, do not want to be involved in formulating school programs and even they do not understand the vision and mission of high-quality schools [47–49].Another phenomenon of the school committee management is the condition where the head of the school committee serves all the time without any rotation. In fact, even though the election was held, the one chosen was still the Chairman of the Committee. The principal tends to maintain the school committee which acts as a stamp maker because it is seen as not disturbing the comfort of the school in the financial aspect. The phenomenon of school committee management throughout this period is related to the direct involvement of community leaders in land acquisition for the construction of the New School Unit. Damri (interview on 22 June 2020), a community leader in Pauh Padang village, gave the view that this phenomenon was related to the government’s limitations in land acquisition for the construction of the New School Unit (Unit Sekolah Baru—USB) to accommodate community children who were not accepted into the main school and the communal Minangkabau land ownership system. The matrilineal Minangkabau community does not adhere to an individual ownership system, but land is a high inheritance under the control of Mamak as the representative of the family. Finally, this phenomenon has made community leaders become committee administrators for all time and act like foundation administrators.


## 3.3. Engage in Activities That Are Not Relevant to Quality Improvement

Another specific thing in the regional autonomy phase is that schools are busy with various activities that are not related to improving the quality of education. Mass mobilization supported by the mobilization of high school students in large numbers is a very practical way to make the incumbent Regent/Mayor political program a success. From the results of interviews with 16 teachers who served as student advisors at schools, it can be concluded that agencies such as the TNI/Polri, Prosecutor’s Office, and others that do not carry out an educational mission also often ask for help from the school to mobilize students to participate in various activities carried out by the agency. According to Masril, a former school principal in the autonomy era, the average school involvement at the high school level every month was about 5–10 activities. Meanwhile, the mobility of these activities is not budgeted for in the school’s RAPBS.


## 3.4. Educational Autonomy: The Misunderstanding of Teachers’ Main Duties

In relation to quality control, especially in the learning process, teacher commitment in carrying out tasks is guided by the Education Unit Level Curriculum (KTSP) and 2013 Curriculum. The decline in school rankings or school graduations that have not reached the specified graduation standards are often related to the curriculum, teacher commitment, and teacher responsibilities. In this case, school principals, school committees, and community leaders share the same view that the commitment of teachers in their duties is limited to carrying out the learning process according to a set schedule. When the question of the quality of education is questioned to the teacher, the teacher reveals that their time is spent by curriculum components which take up too much time for planning and evaluation aspects. Learning tools based on the KTSP curriculum and the 2013 curriculum are too burdensome for teacher performance. Regarding the teacher’s workload, the Regent and Mayor treat teachers like an office employee who has to work a minimum of 9 hours a day from 7.30 to 16.30 with a span of 40 hours one week and five working days. The Regent/Mayor as the holder of the regional autonomy authority does not understand that the workload of a teacher is not measured based on the attendance of working hours in the office. The teacher’s workload is measured based on the main tasks of the teacher starting from the planning stage, implementation stage, and learning evaluation stage. The planning and evaluation stages can be carried out by teachers at school or mostly done at home (Yenni Putri, Azwarman, Risdaneti, Musry Wandi, and Asnul ZA, interview on 29 June 2020).In the planning stage, the teacher first prepares learning tools starting from the syllabus, lesson plans, and supporting media for daily materials. The lesson plan must be prepared by the teacher every time a face-to-face meeting in class; the time used for planning is equivalent to 24 face-to-face credits in one week. Then, at the process stage, the teacher carries out the learning process in the form of face-to-face interaction in class with a mandatory 24 credit hours a week for teachers who are certified educators, while at the evaluation stage, the teacher evaluates the assignment of individuals and groups of students. If the subjects he teaches are equivalent to 3 hours face-to-face, it means he has to teach 8 study groups, with each study group having 36 students, which means that there are around 288 worksheets that the teacher must check every week, which is equivalent to 24 hours a week. Therefore, the total time spent by teachers from planning, implementing, and evaluating is equivalent to 3 × 24 credits a week. Because the workload is too much, the consequence is that teachers understand that all school activities are the responsibility of school leaders. Teachers often do not participate in extracurricular activities, and even they often do not make time to deal with problematic students.


## 3.5. Cheating in National Examination

Based on structured interviews with informants who used to be high school principals during the regional autonomy period, he stated that controlling the quality of education in the evaluation aspect of the final stage of schooling is a learning process at the school level that cannot be separated from the role of the Regent/Mayor. The National Examination which should be used as a benchmark for evaluating the learning process in schools in its implementation is often not in accordance with the expectations of many parties [34]. Deviations in the implementation of the National Examination lead to distrust of some people towards the parties involved in the implementation of the National Examination [50, 51]. The demand for competition between districts/cities for ranking in the implementation of the National Examination is also a trigger for dishonesty in the implementation of the National Examination. The school leadership by the district/city government is involved in practical politics to get the highest rank through a fraudulently administered National Examination.Cheating on the National Examination is shown through loose supervision of the National Examination, leaked answer keys, and the existence of a file buying and selling syndicate. Dishonesty in the National Examination is justified by the results of Zamroni research [36] that have found practices of cheating, manipulation, and dishonesty carried out by irresponsible persons with various modes. The results of Bosch’s study [52] also show that the National Examination cannot be used as a tool to improve the quality of education, but rather aims to increase the prestige of school institutions and the prestige of the district/city government. Phenomenon in the form of cheating on the National Examination is also justified by the Ombudsman, parents of students, and the community.The factors that cause cheating in the National Examination, after triangulation tests with several sources, are due to the 12-year compulsory education program, the assessment of school academic achievement based on National Examination rankings, the target of passing 100%, and administrative pressure from the district/city government. This is the cause of the lax supervision of the National Examination. That is, it is strictly monitored because with the 12-year compulsory education program, all students must eventually graduate [35, 53–55].Cheating that occurs in the National Examination is not only committed by students but also by teachers and school institutions; there is even an act of omission by the district/city government. The findings of this study are in line with the results of research abroad conducted by Hauptman [56], which showed that so far the general public often identified exam cheating behavior as generally carried out by students, such a view should be changed because of the fact that many teachers commit academic fraud, generally the action taken is omission by pretending not to know the cheating committed by their students [57, 58].In addition, the results of research by Thakkar [59] on teachers’ reactions to academic cheating found that the majority of teachers who witnessed cheating did not report the incident to the examination committee. The results of Barrett et al. [60] study of 235 schools in South Carolina on teachers’ perceptions of the frequency and seriousness of ethical violations found that more than 25% of respondents stated 7 categories of behavior that often occur in schools, one of which is increasing student grades (cheating on exams) because of pressure from the central administrator. Meanwhile, the results of Thomas and De Bruin’s research [61] explain that there are other possibilities that cause academic fraud related to the possibility of inaccuracies in the implementation of the education system compared to personal errors within the students themselves. Thomas and De Bruin (2012) stated that, in the occurrence of academic fraud, the public should not always only question the character of the students, but it would be wiser if the community also questioned the prevailing education system. The results of this study mean that the implementation of the National Examination as a mechanism of the national education system to measure the quality of education has distorted which causes schools to do practical things such as a successful National Examination program, 100% graduation target, and ranking of National Examination results as a symbol of district/city prestige. This means that school autonomy is under the grip of the district/city government bureaucracy which authorizes the Regent/Mayor in the appointment of school principals, and quality control at the school level is the main cause of distortion of the quality of education. The National Examination is no longer a natural measuring tool to evaluate the learning process carried out by schools, but becomes an instrument that describes the performance of school institutions and the performance of district/city governments.


## 3.6. Regional Autonomy: Decentralization versus the Autonomy of Nagari Minangkabau

The concept of decentralization put forward by experts in various studies of political science and government science is the transfer of planning, decision-making, or administrative authority from the central government to local government organizations [62, 63]. The context of decentralization in this understanding emphasizes that the authority received by the regions is related to the whole process in activities that are under the authority of the Regent/Mayor, starting from planning and decision-making, implementing what has been planned, and monitoring and evaluating the success of what has been implemented. The concept of decentralization is understood by the Regents and Mayors as a political policy related to many things, including in the field of education.Such an understanding makes the Regent/Mayor have the power and central authority to politicize the areas that are their power and authority. The process of appointing echeloning officials starting from the lower level of echelon IV to the highest level of echelon II and the appointment of elementary school principals to high school/vocational school principals is centered on the power of the regent/mayor. The consequence that occurs is the sole loyalty of all levels of echeloning officials to the Regent/Mayor because they are appointed and inaugurated by the Regent/Mayor. Indeed, the recruitment process continues to start from the proposals of each agency and then forward to the Regional Personnel Agency through the coordination of the duties of the Position and Rank Advisory Board under the leadership of the Regional Secretary as the regional staffing supervisor. However, in practice, this process cannot be separated from the political policies of a Regent/Mayor. Therefore, the reality that occurs according to Thoha [8] is that the implementation of regional autonomy has created a stigma on the domination of political officials over the government bureaucracy.The phenomenon that occurs is that there are still appointments of education officials in regions full of political interests. There is a Head of the Education Office who is held by people who do not have an educational professional background. Educational leadership is a professional position that must understand well about the vision and mission of education and have pedagogical abilities and professional abilities, that is, someone who understands well the student’s study habits and understands well about learning tools. Educational leadership does not only talk about influence but also has managerial abilities about the field of work that he leads. Therefore, educational leadership in schools is a teacher who has more abilities than the average teacher in the school community. It is impossible for a school principal to have effective learning leadership if he does not have knowledge about learning tools, starting from the ability to compose a syllabus, lesson plans, and evaluation.In this regard, the guidelines for the appointment of a person to become a school principal have been set by the Ministry of National Education with Permendiknas No. 28 of 2010 concerning the assignment of teachers as principals to go through a selection, training, and education process for prospective principals. In practice, the selection process has never been carried out by the district/city Education Office. On average, a person becomes a principal for 1-2 years at the longest; there are even six months when he has been replaced as a principal for no apparent reason. Indeed, in the first 10 years of the regional autonomy era by the district/city, the position of the principal was like soft jelly and had to have psychological endurance to be able to accept the situation if at any time one had to be dismissed.The consequence of the condition of the vulnerability of the principal’s position that can be replaced at any time is the emergence of principals who do not have integrity. What they are doing is not thinking about quality improvement but showing fawning behavior in the sense of giving birth to leader behavior that prioritizes an emotional approach and not a work approach. Working professionally and feeling comfortable to work is not the motto of the principal in this era of regional autonomy, usually the first two years of the Regent/Mayor’s term of office will end when the principal’s work orientation has turned into a successful team illegally from the incumbent Regent/Mayor. This condition is an opportunity for school leadership to strengthen its position as school principal in order to survive in his position.Then, the issue of buying and selling school principal positions is a logical phenomenon that is closely related to the high-cost regional election process, a condition that cannot be denied as the cause of many regents/mayors who stumble in corruption cases. That is, the sale and purchase of positions is not a new matter in the era of direct democracy by involving the voice of the people. Based on data from 2004 to 2018, there were 104 regional heads stumbling over corruption (https://www.merdeka.com/events/data-2004-2018-104-heads-region-tersandung-korupsi-paling-banyak-di-jawa-east.html).The solution to this deviation from decentralization in democratic practice by placing the power of the Regent/Mayor as the central power can be overcome by creating a tiered distribution of power. The appointment of echelonering officials by the regent is limited to the official head of the service; then, the head of the service has the authority to inaugurate lower-level officials he brings. This solution will be able to create a cohesive work team. Each level of the echeloning official will be loyal to the higher level official who appointed him. If everything is done in an authoritative way, they do not obey their superiors, so they are more obedient to the Regent/Mayor than to the Head of Section and the Head of the Regency/City Education Office. As a result, the things that are considered important by the head of department and the head of the service are not necessarily considered important by the Regent/Mayor because they are the ones who appoint and inaugurate them.


## 3.7. Back to Provincial Government Autonomy on January 1, 2017

The policy of transferring management of SMA/SMK is enforced nationally on the basis of the mandate of Law No. 23 of 2014. It operated technically from January 1, 2017, and the management of SMA/SMK education has become the authority of the provincial government, so the district/city government as an autonomous region may not hold and transfer employees in SMA/SMK starting October 2016, except for the principal for reasons that cannot be postponed. During this transition period, the district/city Education Office must do the migration process of personnel and asset data to the West Sumatra Provincial Education Office (UU No. 23/2014).The transfer of management of SMA/SMK to the provincial government did not go smoothly, essentially all Regents/Mayors throughout Indonesia objected to the transfer of management of secondary schools. The objection was carried out in the form of a judicial review by the Mayor of Blitar Samanhudi Anwar and the Surabaya City government. In particular, the judicial review was carried out on Article 1 paragraph 3, Article 28D paragraph 1, and Article 18 paragraph 2 and then Article 18A paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 and Article 28C paragraph 2. In its explanation, the Constitutional Court stated that, in the regional government law, education is included in the classification of government affairs divided by center, region, and city. The division is based on aspects of accountability, efficiency, externalities, and national strategy. The division, according to the Constitutional Court, does not contradict the 1945 Constitution.The first step in the process of implementing the transfer of authority to manage SMA/SMK by the provincial government of West Sumatra through the provincial education office is to inaugurate and reaffirm the principals of SMA/SMK public schools throughout West Sumatra in stages based on the Decree of the Governor of West Sumatra while still being placed in schools that are being led, except for the principal who is entering retirement age and who does not reach the passing grade from the recompetency test is immediately replaced and a new principal is appointed who has passed the test for prospective principals.After three years under the authority of the Provincial Education Office from January 1, 2017, to the end of December 2019, it can be said that there is no transfer of principals except for filling vacant positions left by principals who are entering retirement age. The results of interviews with school principals concluded that after returning to provincial autonomy, they are more comfortable in carrying out their duties because they are far from mutation issues that roll around at any time under district/city autonomy (Parendangan, interview on 29 June 2020). Since being re-established as a school principal based on the West Sumatra Governor’s Decree in early 2017 until the end of 2019, there has not been a transfer issue set by the head of the provincial education office (Yenni Putri, interview on 29 June 2020).Regarding public participation in education financing, it is still carried out through the school committee, but the obstacle that occurs is the wrong perception from the community and the Ombudsman about the meaning of donations and fees. Donations that are voluntary and not coercive are used by parents without heeding the agreement of the school committee. Obstacles in gathering parental participation for education are also a logical consequence of the promises of free regent/mayor candidates during the Pilkada campaign with the flagship program of free schools ranging from basic education to secondary education. The community, especially parents of students who had enjoyed the free education program by the Padang city government for the 2014/2015 academic year until the transfer period to the provincial government, objected to implementing the results of the school committee meeting agreement on the donations of parents to finance school programs (Yan Finanda, interview on June 28, 2020).Parental contributions collected by the school committee have become wild balls because the empowerment of parental participation through school committees is not strengthened by the Governor’s Regulation as the legal umbrella for the School Committee. The results of the parents’ agreement in the form of donations lead to the interpretation of functions for law enforcement. The Ombudsman whose function is to oversee the implementation of public services, including the implementation of public services by schools, and the special detachment, Corruption Crimes (Tipikor), as a special unit to eradicate corruption formed by the National Police are two institutions that can provide different interpretations of the contributions of parents of students who have received be decided by the school committee. The school committee, which has the authority to raise funds, usually delegates it to the school by appointing one of the school’s education staff to collect assistance from the parents of students on the basis of a meeting agreement. Collecting the results of the parents’ meeting agreement through students is often categorized as an act of malpractice by the ombudsman because of reports in the form of anonymous letters by parents of students to the institution. At the same time, this phenomenon has also become the object of investigation and investigation by the local police Corruption Unit. In some cases, people even reported to the prosecutor’s office the problems related to parental donations which were categorized as levies. This problem should be solved with a firm legal umbrella from the provincial government and concretely stipulating the form and amount of community participation from parents every month, with the exception of poor students on the basis of a certificate from poor parents from the local government.Meanwhile, school financing sourced from School Operational Assistance (Bantuan Operasional Sekolah—BOS) funds is channeled from the Ministry of Finance through the Provincial General Treasury Account (Rekening Kas Umum Daerah—RKUD) and then forwarded to school accounts with a distribution frequency of 4 times per year with a portion of stage 1 (20%). stage II (40%), stage III (20%), and stage IV (20%) (https://edukasi.kompas.com/read/2020/02/11/%2015253481/beda-policy-dana-bos-2020-and-boss-2019). With regard to the use of BOS funds, the guidelines are very clear; the school uses BOS funds according to the items of use that are allowed and accounted for online through the https://bos.kemdikbud.go.id/ page. This aims to increase accountability for the use of BOS funds by the school.However, in 2019, there were still five secondary schools that were used as a trial by the prosecutor regarding the accountability report for the use of BOS funds that had been submitted online to the Ministry of Education and Culture. The results of the survey and field interviews showed that the investigation process by law enforcement on the accountability report for BOS funds created an atmosphere of discomfort on the part of the school. From one side of the accountability report submitted online by the school, there were no findings by the Ministry or the provincial inspectorate who had the internal authority to oversee and examine the school’s accountability report. In fact, they are still being processed by investigators from the Prosecutor’s Office on the reports of NGOs. For this reason, the provincial government must coordinate with law enforcement authorities on forms of violations that must be continued at the investigation stage by the Corruption Eradication Unit and Prosecutor’s Office. This is done in order to maintain the dignity and good name of the school leadership who is also an educator.The involvement of schools in the nature of mobilizing large numbers of students at provincial level events that are not in direct contact with the learning process or improving the quality of schools is much less or virtually nonexistent when compared to the era of SMA/SMK under the authority of the district/city. While the implications in aspects of the curriculum and the learning process are in principle no difference, teachers are still required to be committed to continuing to carry out teaching assignments for a minimum of 24 credits for professionally certified teachers.The return of SMA to provincial autonomy spread across 19 districts/cities; the challenges faced are related to the range of management control and assets of the Village Empowerment Development Program (Program Pengembangan Pemberdayaan Desa—P3D). Therefore, for smooth governance, the West Sumatra Provincial Government has established eight branch offices of the Education Office in several areas, such as in Padang Pariaman Regency and Pariaman City being combined into one branch office work area, as well as Agam Regency and Bukittinggi City which are geographically close and merged into the work area of the branch office. Meanwhile for Padang, because SMA/SMK is close to the Provincial Education Office, it is directly under the work responsibility of the provincial office.Furthermore, with regard to quality control, the implementation of the National Examination remains a measuring tool for the quality of SMA/SMK management, and its implementation has been gradually increased from a paper-based National Examination or Paper-Based Test (PBT) to a Computer-Based National Examination (Ujian Nasional Berbasis Komputer—UNBK) also known as the Computer-Based Test (CBT). Nationally, the UNBK pilot was carried out in 2015 by involving 135 SMA/MA and 379 SMK in 29 provinces and abroad. In 2016, UNBK was held by involving 1298 SMA/MA and 2100 SMK. The number of schools participating in the 2017 UNBK jumped sharply to 9,652 SMA/MA and 9,829 SMK. The increasing number of UNBK schools in 2017 is in line with the resource-sharing policy issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture, which allows schools with limited computer facilities to carry out UNBK in other schools with adequate computer facilities.The implementation of the UNBK-based National Examination is intended to minimize cheating in the implementation of the exam, but the reality as conveyed by the Minister of Education and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, is that the National Examination is still colored by cheating for the sake of cheating. Although the results of the UN are no longer a requirement to determine graduation, the integrity index that was previously glorified as a determinant of honesty, continued Muhadjir, can no longer be fully held. This is because the integrity index is already known and considered by some staff in the education environment. Cheating on the National Examination, he continued, was also caused by the encouragement of the bureaucracy, in which the local government made the National Examination as a benchmark for achievement. Hence, the practice of cheating occurs massively and involves a number of people in schools. Meanwhile, several research results also show that the less stringent aspects of UNBK supervision have opened up gaps for test takers to cheat. The Ministry of Education and Culture recorded that there were 202 complaints of cheating during the 2019 National Examination at the SMA/SMK/MA level. The Inspector General of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Muchlis R. Luddin, said the number of fraud cases shrank to 126 cases after being verified. Muchlis further stated that complaints of fraud continued to increase from year to year with details of 71 participants complaining in 2017, 79 participants complaining in 2018, and 126 participants complaining in 2019. In 2019, the form of cheating that occurred was taking pictures of questions from a computer with a cellphone which are to be shared with other students (https://tirto.id/ds9Y;https://tirto.id/unbk-diwarnai-kecurangan-apa-yang-mesti-dilaku-kemendikbud-ds9Y).Meanwhile, regarding the implementation of the National Examination in Padang City in 2019, out of 45 public and private high schools (SMA) in Padang City, 28 schools will still hold a Paper and Pencil-Based National Examination (UNKP) or manual. Only 17 schools will carry out the Computer-Based National Examination (UNBK) (https://padangmedia.com/45-sma-di-kota-padang-gelar-un-28-school-masih-manual/). So how big is the fraud index for the implementation of the UN in West Sumatra? Five regions with levels of fraud in the implementation of the National Examination below 20% are Jogyakarta, Bangka Belitung, North Kalimantan, Bengkulu, and the Riau Archipelago. Meanwhile, the remaining 28 provinces have an integrity index with a fraud percentage above 20% and some even reach 80% (https://mediaindonesia.com/%20read/detail/17729).However, an interesting phenomenon is that fraud is no longer a part of society’s problems. Previously, when the results of the National Examination became uncertain in student graduation, cheating became the talk of parents and the general public and the answer keys scattered after the exam became the main issue about cheating on the National Examination in Padang City. After the National Examination is determined to be no longer the main requirement in determining graduation, the cheating that occurs is no longer part of and belongs to the community. From 2017 until the 2019 National Examination, the issue of UN fraud in West Sumatra in general and the city of Padang in particular has disappeared from the comments of parents and the general public. In addition, the UN ranking for districts/cities is no longer a proud prestige for regional heads.


## 4. Conclusion

The initial phase of regional autonomy began in 2005. Schools have flexible authority in using education contributions which are managed together with school committees; the use of accountability is checked by the district/city inspectorate. Meanwhile, the school budget sourced from Regency/City government financial budget is only 3.14%. In fact, the highest percentage only reached 10%, still very far from the 20% target mandated by the National Education System Law.The school committee, which should have an expanded role from the Educational Supporting Agency in raising education funds, is still limited to the participation of parents and has not yet reached the industrial world and entrepreneurs and community leaders who care about education. In carrying out its roles and functions, there is still a School Committee that acts as a stamp maker and executor of the legality of school programs. The principal tends to maintain the School Committee which acts as a stamp maker because it is seen as not disturbing the comfort of the school in the financial aspect. Another phenomenon of the school committee administrators is that they become the Chair of the Committee all the time without any periodization, a consequence of the direct involvement of community leaders in land acquisition for the construction of the New School Unit. This phenomenon occurs related to the government’s limitations in land acquisition for the construction of the New School Unit (USB) and the communal Minangkabau community land ownership system.Regarding the commitment and responsibility of teachers, they spend a lot of time on planning and evaluation aspects. Learning tools based on the KTSP Curriculum and the 2013 Curriculum are too burdensome for teacher performance. Then, the Regents/Mayors as the holder of the regional autonomy authority misunderstood that the workload of a teacher was not measured based on the attendance of working hours in the office but was measured based on the teacher’s main duties starting from the planning stage, implementation stage, and learning evaluation stage.In relation to controlling the quality of education in the aspect of administering the National Examination, there has been a negative stigma that the learning process at the school level is also loaded with the interests of the Regent/Mayor officials. In this regard, the authority possessed by the Regent/Mayor in the appointment of school principals and quality control at the school level is one of the causes of distortions in the quality of education. The National Examination is no longer a natural measuring tool to evaluate the learning process carried out by schools, but has been manipulated into an instrument that describes the performance of district/city government institutions.Educational autonomy in the aspect of school governance related to school leadership and management is also a major issue in the regional head election. The implementation of educational autonomy also creates a stigma about the dominance of the leadership of political officials over the education bureaucracy. The government bureaucracy that was built to regulate the implementation of regional autonomy has changed its function into an engine for implementing political policies for district/city leaders.After the school autonomy for senior high schools was returned to the provincial government, community participation in education financing was still carried out through the school committee, but the obstacle that occurred was that the school did not dare to explicitly collect parental contributions because of the wrong perception from the community about the meaning of donations and fees.Regarding the quality control, after the National Examination is determined not to be the main requirement in determining graduation, the fraud that occurs is no longer part of and belongs to the community. From 2017 until the implementation of the 2019 National Examination, the issue of UN fraud in West Sumatra in general and the city of Padang in particular has disappeared from the comments of parents and the public. This is because the National Examination is no longer a frightening specter in determining student graduation. In addition, the National Examination ranking for districts/cities is no longer a proud prestige for regional heads. The implication of this research is to regulate and enforce regulations that strictly regulate the implementation of school autonomy, especially with regard to education financing, community participation in education through the School Committee, and the process of appointing school principals so that educational affairs do not enter the realm of practical politics.



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*Source: 9887162-2022-05-26.xml*