In the media

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of Indonesia is set to embed anti-corruption education into the national curriculum. The idea is to break the current vicious cycle of corruption, where young people in their 20s and 30s are already committing acts of corruption. The idea is to foster a culture of integrity and ethical behaviour among future generations, and to reduce corruption through anti-corruption education from an early age.

The procurement of over one million Chromebooks (2019–2022) has triggered a corruption probe into Indonesia’s Education Ministry. Losses are estimated at Rp1.98 trillion (approx. 121.4 million USD). At least 28 witnesses have been questioned, exposing transparency failures and underscoring the urgent need for stronger governance, accountability, and reforms in the education sector.

Indonesia is set to implement school revitalization measures starting in January 2025. This initiative will affect 10,000 schools, bringing changes to curricula, infrastructure, teaching staff, and learning materials. However, the allocated budget for this effort has faced significant challenges, including corruption and embezzlement by school administrations and regional officials. The article calls on the government to take a firm and professional stance against bribery.

The Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture has revoked 31 private higher education licences after finding that the institutions did not meet the required standards in terms of facilities and student numbers, that teaching was poor, and that there had been allegations of bogus courses and fraudulent issuing of diplomas. The Ministry will help students from the institutions concerned to transfer to accredited institutions. Teachers who are found not to have been involved in the fraudulent schemes will receive the same assistance, otherwise, they will be blacklisted.

The Indonesian Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) has arrested the Rector of the University of Lampung for allegedly receiving IDR5 billion (US$336,000) in bribes from the families of students who failed the university entrance exams known as the autonomous admissions scheme. According to KPK, the ‘autonomous channel’ exam conducted by universities is vulnerable to bribery due to a lack of transparency and specific guidelines from the Ministry of Education, leaving state universities unsupervised.

Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd has signed a memorandum of agreement with four universities in Indonesia to implement Dagang Net eScroll, a blockchain-powered web application for employers, graduates, universities and training providers to authenticate academic and training certificates. This application provides a unique signature and time-stamped certificate that can eliminate forgery, unlike traditional paper-based documents.

On Tuesday, the Culture and Education Minister said that the government was aiming to achieve higher standards of integrity with the implementation of the national exams (UN) starting in 2016. To that end, the Culture and Education Ministry has produced a barometer, namely the UN Integrity Index (IIUN), which measured the percentage of student answer sheets that showed no sign of cheating.

The National Police say more complaints have been lodged against higher education institutions that are alleged to have issued fake degrees since the Research and Technology and Higher Education Ministry filed a report against one such institution last month. The National Police’s detective division chief said that they were currently looking into reports from the Medan Police in North Sumatra which targeted the University of North Sumatra.

Research and technology and higher education minister said that he would soon publish the names of universities that were alleged to have issued fake diplomas. He said that he had set up a special team to investigate the case and would carry out impromptu visits to the suspected universities in the near future.

An Indonesian presidential spokesman has stated that the President has called on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate alleged corruption involving the Education and Culture Deputy Minister for Culture.