IMPACT-se’s updated report on Indonesia’s textbooks provides an important barometer in assessing the direction of the world’s fourth most populous country. The study analyzes Indonesia’s most recent Merdeka Curriculum and compares it with the previous 2013 Curriculum. The findings reveal a significant shift toward inclusivity and tolerance. The new curriculum highlights minority religions and indigenous belief systems as essential to Indonesia’s national identity. It also presents a more balanced portrayal of Jews and Judaism, eliminating problematic content from earlier editions, and promotes greater interfaith understanding. With a population of 240 million and growing geopolitical relevance, Indonesia’s education system plays a key role in shaping both the country and beyond.
Unity In Diversity: The Indonesian Curriculum
This IMPACT-se report offers a first-of-its-kind insight into the Indonesian curriculum for grades 1–12. This covers textbooks on religion, civics, history, social studies, environmental studies, globalization, and geography. The research explores how specific lessons, images and exercises portray and shape attitudes toward international relations, officially recognized and non-recognized religions, gender equality, local languages and cultures, and ethnic minorities. It evaluates the ways in which the state philosophy of Pancasila promotes national values of unity within diversity; religious and social harmony; humility; the importance of local wisdom; and respect toward other nations. This analysis looks at 169 textbooks taught in the Standard Public Track, schools run by the Indonesian Ministry of Education, which make up 85 percent of all students. The report focuses on five thematic categories: “Pancasila: One God, Unity-in-Diversity,” “Religious Communities in Indonesia,” “Minorities and the ‘Other’,” “International Relations,” and “Local and Ethnic Wisdom.” Report