Surakarta, 29 June 2026 – Jaringan Kerja Masyarakat Peduli Pendidikan Surakarta (MPPS) or Community Network for Education in Surakarta organised a public discussion entitled Wedangan Bersama Kepala Dinas Pendidikan Kota Surakarta (Tea Time with the Head of Education Office in Surakarta) at Anawim Hall, Yayasan YAPHI, Monday (29/6). The Forum invited government officials, civil society organisations, parliament members, school committees, and education activists to discuss the implementation plan for Special Classes Program in Surakarta City.

Adi C. Kristiyanto from Yayasan YAPHI opened the activity by stating that the Special Classes Program was a new policy in Surakarta City that participants needed to discuss openly in order to provide inputs for relevant parties. Afterwards, Haryati Panca Putri from Yayasan YAPHI extended her appreciation to Dwi Ariyatno, the head of Education Office in Surakarta City, who was present in the dialogue with stakeholders.

In his presentation, Dwi Ariyatno explained that the Special Classes Program was part of an agenda for education transformation organised by the government of Surakarta City. He said that, to date, special education services were targeting children with disability, while talented children and gifted children also needed education services that fit their characters and needs.

He iterated that the curriculum used would be based on national curriculum. The difference lied in the learning approach which was designed t be ore adaptive to fit student’s ability. In addition, parents would be actively involved through parenting program so that character building would proceed on a consistent basis, at schools and in family environment.

In its initial stage, the Special Classes School would proceed in limited fashion at Public Schools - SMP Negeri 24, SMP Negeri 25, and SMP Negeri 26 Surakarta. The City government would conduct an evaluation on the program implementation before program expansion in the following year.

In the discussion, Pardoyo gave his appreciation to the program implementation, which was promoted beforehand during hearing with the education office in Februari 2026. He expected that the Special Classes Program would truly give priorities to students with standout academic performance and gifted students from poor families.

Pardoyo also pointed out the high-level of enthusiasm in the community towards the program. Of the 150 seats available, the number of people registering reached more than 400 students despite the limited information dissemination. For that reason, he proposed that the selection process and announcement schedule be aligned with student recruitment stage in general in order to avoid confusion in community.

In response, Dwi Ariyatno expressed that the government articulated its target that within three years, there would be students who would be able to compete for top schools at national levels. He also suggested that the Special Classes Program was not meant to create discrimination, but to provide education services that fit the students’ gifts.

The discussion forum triggered critical views from participants. Joko Riyanto from the Education Council (Dewan Pendidikan) in Surakarta City (DPKS) emphasised the importance of strengthening the character, moral, and religious education, so that intellectual capacity could develop in line with the integrity of students. He believed that the success of education should not only be measured by academic performance, but also the quality of characters.

Meanwhile, an education observer, Bukik questioned the use of Taruna Nusantara as a reference in the development of Special Classes Program. He reminded that the mandate of the constitution was to enlighten the nation’s life comprehensively, thus the government had to make sure that the program would not reduce the government attention to students in regular classes. Bukik also asked for explanation with regards to the size of budget allocation for each students in the program.

In answering the question, Dwi Ariyatno explained that Taruna Nusantara (Patriot of the Nation) would be one of the references in the development of learning system and character building, not as a model for full implementation. He also revealed that education budget per student remained in deficit of around Rp 800,000 annually, which posed a challenge towards improving quality education services.

A member of Surakarta City Parliament, Yanuar also gave his support to the Special Classes Program innovation, as part of measures to improve quality of education in Surakarta City. He believed that Surakarta had enough capacity to meet education needs of senior high schools, and improvement in the quality of education services should always be an ongoing agenda.

The discussion closed with a commitment to continually conduct dialogues between the government and civil society. The head of Education Office proposed that the subsequent meeting discussed about widening access for Early Education (PAUD), because there remained challenges in implementing uniform early education services to all children in Surakarta City.

Through such forum, Jaringan Kerja MPPS expected that open dialogue forum would strengthen community participation in education policy monitoring. This way, each innovation by the government would always be based on the principles of justice, inclusiveness, and the rights of children to education. (Yoh.Handharu/Renny Talitha)