By: Sugiman (Chair of BAN-PDM Central Java, Mathematics Lecturer at UNNES)
Reading and reflecting on the article “Quality Begins with Risk” written by Toni Toharudin, we seem to be confronted with a large mirror that starkly reflects the reality of our national education system. For years, education quality assurance in Indonesia has been trapped in an illusion of compliance, in which quality is equated solely with meeting standards, completing stacks of documents, and conducting administrative assessments. Schools across the country compete to polish their image to demonstrate procedural compliance, while the essence of educational success is reduced to little more than a series of accreditation scores or annual evaluation reports. This conservative approach may once have helped build the foundations of our system, but amid the exponentially accelerating pace of change, the paradigm has become increasingly less relevant.
The educational challenges we face today are too complex to be viewed through tunnel vision. The spectrum of problems is extremely broad: some schools struggle amid a shortage of students, some face teacher shortages, others have impressive facilities and infrastructure yet their students’ learning outcomes remain poor, while still others are effectively dormant because of weak leadership. Given that every education unit faces unique challenges and realities, imposing a single uniform approach on all schools is a mistake. Educational transformation today requires us to redefine the meaning of quality; quality assurance must evolve from merely checking compliance into the capacity to detect risks early, manage them, and turn them into opportunities for improvement.
Data: From Stacks of Numbers to an Early Warning System
The most revolutionary idea in this paradigm shift is the repositioning of the role of data. Toni Toharudin pointedly reminds us that true quality does not emerge when every administrative indicator on paper has been fulfilled; it begins the moment we are able to identify potential obstacles that could hinder educational goals. This is where the urgency lies: Indonesia already possesses extraordinary information infrastructure assets. From Basic Education Data (Dapodik), the Education Profile, national assessment results, the Academic Ability Test, to students’ socioeconomic data, all constitute an abundant wealth of information.
The greatest challenge, however, is how to prevent these data from ending up merely as a “graveyard of numbers” on central servers, and instead use them optimally as the foundation for strategic decision-making. In modern management governance, we know the concept of an early warning system, a mechanism designed to detect signs of deterioration before they develop into a systemic crisis. Our education system urgently needs such an alarm system.
This concept is highly consistent with the Swiss Cheese Model proposed by James Reason. The model postulates that system failure never occurs suddenly because of a single major error. Instead, failure is the product of an accumulation of small weaknesses that are allowed to persist and, at some point, align and penetrate the system’s layers of defense. A decline in school quality does not happen simply because a curriculum suddenly becomes outdated, but because latent risks accumulate simultaneously: ineffective leadership, frequent teacher absenteeism, low student literacy, and parental apathy.
If our data algorithms can function as alarms, then when teacher absence graphs begin to rise, students’ literacy performance declines over two semesters, or dropout rates show an upward trend, the system will immediately issue a warning signal. This alarm enables the government and stakeholders to intervene clinically as early as possible, preventing schools from plunging into a quality crisis that would be extremely difficult and costly to reverse. A reliable quality assurance system is not the one most skilled at finding faults at the end of a period, but the one most alert to potential problems before they claim a victim—the future of students.
Schools: Burying the Culture of “Last-Minute Cramming”
So, what must schools prepare and change in response to these data alarms? The first and most essential step is to bury the culture of “last-minute cramming” when facing accreditation. The thinking of quality management pioneer W. Edwards Deming has taught us that quality is never born from a one-time inspection or examination, but is the result of continuous improvement. Quality must be built through a culture of learning that is lived every day, not merely polished when assessors are about to visit.
Therefore, schools must no longer return to outdated, static routines once the accreditation process is over. The Internal Quality Assurance System (SPMI) must be revitalized and made the primary engine for improvement from within the school itself. Evaluation, innovation, and reflection must become the pulse of everyday practice. Beyond that, schools are required to have strong moral courage. Quality will flourish only when every element of the education ecosystem has the courage to look in the mirror, honestly acknowledge its weaknesses and risks without manipulation, and then collaborate to address them. Risks in schools are not a disgrace to be hidden for the sake of image; they are a roadmap showing where improvement must be carried out immediately.
Local Governments: Precision Policies, Ending the “One-Size-Fits-All” Approach
On the other hand, Local Governments (Pemda) play a crucial role as the first responders to these quality alarms. This risk-based management approach requires local governments to abandon the old habit of formulating “one-size-fits-all” policies—one remedy for every problem. Because each school has a unique risk profile, the interventions provided must also be precise and contextual.
When the data alarm rings loudly at a school identified as high-risk—for example, one with low literacy levels or chaotic management—the local government must step in with far more intensive assistance, clinical guidance, and affirmative resource support. Conversely, for schools whose historical data indicate a mature quality culture, local governments must be willing to provide broader autonomy so that they can continue to innovate. With responsive governance of this kind, government budget allocations and resource interventions will become far more effective, well targeted, and capable of producing measurable, tangible impact.
Assessor Transformation: From Inspectors to Partners in Quality Improvement
This paradigm shift will never be complete without a transformation within the External Quality Assurance System (SPME). The SPMI operating within schools must be complemented by an SPME that provides external validation, reinforcement, and guidance, thereby forming a complete cycle of improvement in which evaluation results take the form of real action, not merely reports left sitting on a desk.
In the context of the institutional transformation of Badan Standar dan Akreditasi Nasional Pendidikan (BSANP), the roles of government and assessors must be fundamentally overhauled. Assessors must shed their old role as “inspectors” or examiners whose task is to count shortcomings in accreditation forms or school errors. They must emerge anew as equal partners who help schools develop, identify their risks objectively, and jointly determine priorities for improvement. A healthy culture of evaluation can flourish only when schools feel supported and guided, rather than judged or treated with suspicion.
To shoulder these new expectations, future assessors must be equipped with competencies that go far beyond clerical and administrative skills. First, advanced data literacy and analytics. Assessors must be able to dissect and interpret warning signals from the Rapor Pendidikan and Dapodik so that, when they enter a school, they already have a data-based clinical hypothesis rather than blindly feeling their way through documents. Second, coaching and mentoring competencies. Assessors do not dictate; instead, they facilitate dialogue that sparks critical awareness among school principals and teachers so they can solve their own problems. Third, impact-oriented critical thinking. Assessors must be able to see beyond the thickness of the documentation and ask critically: do these stacks of compliance papers truly produce a real impact on improving the cognitive abilities and character of our children in the classroom?
Welcoming the Dawn of Quality Education
Ultimately, standards, documents, and accreditation are no more than technical instruments. Our higher purpose goes far beyond such administrative matters: ensuring that every child in this republic has the right to receive quality education, wherever they may be.
It is time for our quality assurance paradigm to shift fundamentally: from a culture of superficial compliance to a culture of genuine learning; from a dry administrative orientation to a meaningful impact-oriented approach; from inspection to the supportive spirit of mentoring; and from the tradition of merely measuring results at the end of the year to the responsiveness required to manage risks early. Strong and sustainable educational quality will never simply fall from the sky as if by magic. It must be shaped gradually through accurate data-driven decisions, swift interventions, and a commitment to continuous learning. If we genuinely want to safeguard the future of this nation, the first step is not to passively wait for a crisis to erupt before our eyes, but to turn the data in our hands into a safety alarm that helps us identify risks from the outset.
