{"id":21938,"date":"2025-08-04T14:44:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T07:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/?p=21938"},"modified":"2025-08-04T14:44:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T07:44:22","slug":"the-sunset-of-public-elementary-schools-heres-what-a-lecturer-at-unisa-yogyakarta-has-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/the-sunset-of-public-elementary-schools-heres-what-a-lecturer-at-unisa-yogyakarta-has-to-say\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sunset of Public Elementary Schools? Here’s What a Lecturer at Unisa Yogyakarta Has to Say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The declining interest of parents in enrolling their children in public elementary schools (SDN) is becoming increasingly alarming. This trend reflects a crisis of confidence among the public regarding the quality of public education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This phenomenon shows an alarming trend. This situation reflects a pattern of crisis in public trust, which has led to a decline in public interest in public elementary schools,\u201d said Gerry Katon Mahendra, a lecturer in Public Administration at Universitas \u2018Aisyiyah (Unisa) Yogyakarta, on Friday (July 18, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the perspective of administration and public policy, there are at least three main factors contributing to the decline in interest in public elementary schools. First, the quality of educational services is perceived as uneven (differing by region, even within the same city\/district). Second, the lack of innovation in school management in addressing the needs of students, parents, and the demands of modern times; and third, the low public trust\/stigma currently in place, resulting from insufficient promotion of the advantages of public elementary schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerry said that the disparity in promotion between public and private schools is clear. The disparity is particularly evident in the context of promotion and quality improvement. Although not all private schools have the initiative and capital to improve facilities and teacher quality, those that do are able to do so. This is further compounded by aggressive promotion. Of course, there are implications, namely high school fees. However, parents still enroll their children in private elementary schools because they feel it is well worth it. Meanwhile, public schools are bound by regulations and bureaucracy that often limit service innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParents today are highly aware and want their children to receive quality, safe, and comfortable education with good facilities. Public elementary schools need to undergo comprehensive reforms, particularly in terms of facilities and the consistency of teaching quality,\u201d said Gerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerry observed that current policies to address the decline in student numbers at public schools are still not very effective. While there is now a zoning policy that technically ensures a more even distribution of students, zoning alone is insufficient without adequate improvements in infrastructure quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParents prefer quality education even if it means paying more. The key is to also implement policies and allocate adequate budgets related to comprehensive quality improvement,\u201d said Gerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerry said that local governments have a key role to play in ensuring that basic education services remain equitable and of high quality. Local governments are obliged to distribute teachers evenly, improve public school facilities, and assist schools with low enrollment through affirmative action and promotion policies so that access to education remains fair for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEducation agencies and schools need to focus on improving the quality of teaching, upgrading facilities, and building a positive image through transparent and active communication,\u201d said Gerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerry also emphasized that branding and public communication from public schools need to be improved. At least public schools can openly showcase their strengths and achievements. Additionally, they should utilize school social media and build active and positive communication with parents and the surrounding community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe short-term strategy is to improve the quality of learning and public school facilities to attract public attention. The long-term strategy involves educational management reform and curriculum innovation that aligns with contemporary needs to remain relevant,\u201d suggested Gerry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Sekolah<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The declining interest of parents in enrolling their children in public elementary schools (SDN) is becoming increasingly alarming. This trend reflects a crisis of confidence among the public regarding the quality of public education. “This phenomenon shows an alarming trend. This situation reflects a pattern of crisis in public trust, which has led to a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"The Sunset of Public Elementary Schools? Here's What a Lecturer at Unisa Yogyakarta Has to Say - Universitas Aisyiyah Yogyakarta","description":"The declining interest of parents in enrolling their children in public elementary schools (SDN) is becoming increasingly alarming. This trend reflects a crisis"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,978],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berita","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21938"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21941,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21938\/revisions\/21941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisayogya.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}