Abstract

Indonesia has made notable progress in expanding education access, strengthening gender parity in participation and completion, and scaling public financing mechanisms to support schooling. At the same time, persistent—and in some areas widening—gaps in learning outcomes, equity, and system effectiveness pose serious risks to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 4 (Quality Education) and its interlinkages with poverty, health, decent work, inequality, and governance. This article synthesizes evidence from policy reports, large-scale assessments, and peer‑reviewed studies up to 2024 to map Indonesia’s education achievements and threats in relation to SDG attainment. Using a framework‑synthesis method, we organize the problematics into six domains: (1) access and participation, (2) learning quality and foundational skills, (3) equity and inclusion, (4) teacher quality and incentives, (5) governance and financing effectiveness, and (6) digitalization and post‑pandemic recovery. Results show that while primary-age schooling deprivation is relatively low, disparities rise at secondary levels and are extreme for learners with disabilities. Learning poverty remains high, and international benchmarks reveal low shares of students reaching minimum proficiency. Post‑pandemic learning loss, uneven digital access, and variable local capacity intensify risks. We propose an SDG‑aligned risk-to-response agenda emphasizing foundational learning recovery, targeted inclusion financing, teacher professional support tied to practice and outcomes, data‑driven subnational accountability, and resilient digital infrastructure paired with pedagogical capacity.