| For a prolonged period of time, Indonesia implemented a centralised education system and policy which was characterised by the dominant role of the national government in deciding policies on education. In 1999, Indonesia introduced decentralisation policy when the central government enacted two laws on decentralization: (1) Law No. 22/1999 on fiscal balance between the central government and the local governments; and (2) Law No. 25/1999 on Fiscal Balance. These laws devolves central government authority and responsibilities to local governments in all fields except foreign policy, defense and security, justice, monetary, debt, fiscal matters, and religious affairs, including in education sector. This study examines the premise of the administrative and educational policy as a means to improve local government position in educational policy making and also educational performance at a local level. Results show that educational decentralization has created a new institutional arrangement and a new division of responsibilities over education sector between the central government and local governments (province/district). Despite the administrative and educational decentralization, the Central Government through the Ministry of Education (MONE) still retains a large portion of authority and responsibility for educational content and quality. As most pivotal policies on education sector are still set by MONE indicating the Central Government is still dominant in the education policy-making process in Indonesia. Based on this finding, the extent of educational decentralisation in Indonesia can be considered as deconcentration—rather than devolving full authority, the national level merely delegates responsibilities to education offices in Bantul. Using two measurements of education performance as a case, this study provides sufficient general evidence to state that education performance based on accessibility and education efficiency indicators have improved since educational decentralization at a local level, i.e, in Bantul. |