DISCOVERING POLICY, ATTITUDE, AND CONSTRAINTS ON SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Purpose of the study: This research mainly focuses on identifying and analyzing policies, attitudes, and constraints made by the bureaucrats of education and other school stakeholders about the existence of school-based management (henceforth called SBM), and further it examines the obstacles encountered in implementing school-based management. Methodology: The research used is descriptive analysis. In assessing data, this study used two types of measurements, namely, questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire was used to explore the attitude of the stakeholders toward the existence of SBM. A total of 520 respondents have distributed the questionnaires which contained 60 items of each of these categories: instructional competence (10), professional competence (10), financial competence (10), and leadership issue (30). Furthermore, in the interview section, all four respondents are from each representative of four districts; Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar, Sigli, and Lhokseumawe. The framework of interview guidelines was then adapted from Daresh, et al. (2010) and the interview is eventually to grasp the respondents’ views on the obstacles and constraints on the implementation of SBM. Main Findings: The results of this study reveal that there were no written policies drawn up at the provincial and district level of the ministry of education about the implementation of SBM. Most stakeholders more than 50% tended to view the existence of SBM as positive. Although SBM has never been formally implemented in schools, some schools have started implementing some of the SBM concepts. Applications of this study: The researchers found that there are a variety of obstacles faced during the implementation, including decentralization, authority, decision-making, knowledge of management practices, roles and responsibilities, compensation, finance, leadership, and community care. Novelty/Originality of this study: To date, there is a limited amount of studies with their main focus on school-based management in Indonesia. Based on the written policies of school-based management is considered one of the vital elements to reach a good education.  Besides, schools must have SBM due to it is regarded as the guideline to examine whether the bureaucrats of education and school stakeholders have already implemented the regulation to run the education accordingly.