Innovation in Madiun

The Kota Madiun local government is serious about education. All the agencies involved, the Development Agency (Bappeda), Education Department (Dinas Pendidikan), Religious Affairs Department, local parliament and Education Council work closely together with school committees, principals and teachers to improve the quality of education.

Using bottom-up planning they are currently drawing up a 'Master Plan' for the ten years from 2005 to 2015. Below are a few stories about innovations which are happening in Kota Madiun.

Drawing up a School Budget which is Transparent, Accountable and Consolidated
Madiun local government has successfully integrated transparent and accountable management of funds into the education sector. After the district plans and budgets have been drawn up each government institution in the town including the schools (primary and secondary) draw up a plan and a budget - after they have been trained by the finance department - making a work unit budget (RASK).

All school budgets are then consolidated by the finance department. Given the limited funding available, priorities for programs to be funded are decided at a coordination of development meeting of the local government. By using the same forms and through good consolidation local government officials and auditors can easily monitor the use of funds and efficiency of the local government institutions, including schools.

Equitable, Efficient and Transparent Funding Allocation
The same applies to the allocation of funding to schools. The local government has successfully implemented a formula for allocating funds to support teaching and learning and other operational expenses (other than salaries) calculated based on the number of students and number of classrooms. This is set out in an edict from the Mayor which covers the distribution of Funding to Schools (DAS).

This can be accessed by anyone and they can see a list of all schools, a list of operations and the funds allocated for these. This is very good for supporting School Based Management and budget transparency, because, by allocating more funds directly to schools and making sure the amounts are known to everyone, schools can organise their activities according to their own needs. Above right is an example of the funding allocated to schools.

Dinas Pendidikan Kota Madiun bersepakat membentuk tim untuk menyeleksi calon Kepala Sekolah.

The Education Department in Kota Madiun agreed to form a team to select candidates to become school principals. The team consists of representatives of Dinas Pendidikan, the Education Council, business people and higher education (IKIP PGRI Madiun). Each candidate has to present their vision and mission and school program to the team. The process finishes with a psychological test with assistance of the University of Surabaya.

Raising Quality
The number one priority in Madiun is raising the quality of education. They consider this to be the key to progress. The improvements are intended to support the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) and are supported by teacher working group activities (KKG and MGMP). All state and private primary and secondary schools, conventional and religious (Madrasah) are fully involved in this process. Assisted by a subsidy from local government they make work sheets which are to students for use in school. The head of education, Bpk. Maidi encourages this process to support the introduction of changes in the teaching learning processes needed to successfully implement the CBC.

Relevant and Effective Lessons at SMP 1 Madiun
The teachers at SMP Madiun are already implementing life skills education in the right way - through a lot of practical activities. During our visit to school the class 3 students were doing 14 different practical activities including several sports, cooking, musical activities, traditional dancing, art, embroidery and others.