Evaluating the Design and Implementation Risks of Indonesia’s Merdeka Curriculum Policy for Madrasahs: A Qualitative Document Analysis of Decree 347/2022 and Its Regulatory Transition

Vollständiger Abstract

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This study evaluates the policy design and implementation risks of Indonesia’s Merdeka Curriculum policy for madrasahs under Minister of Religious Affairs Decree Number 347 of 2022. A qualitative policy-document analysis examined the decree, related curriculum regulations, successor policies, and empirical implementation studies. The documents were coded using six criteria: legal and institutional coherence, relevance to madrasah distinctiveness, implementation feasibility, learning and assessment quality, equity, and monitoring sustainability. The findings show that the decree created a coherent transitional framework by combining the national curriculum, Islamic Religious Education and Arabic provisions, and locally developed madrasah values. Its main strengths included phased implementation, institutional autonomy, differentiated learning, operational curriculum development, and assigned monitoring responsibilities. However, the policy did not adequately operationalize readiness standards, minimum support packages, measurable quality indicators, equity safeguards, or feedback mechanisms. These gaps risked reducing implementation to administrative compliance and widening quality differences among madrasahs with unequal leadership, teacher, digital, and financial capacity. The evaluation concerns policy design and implementation risk, not measured causal effects on student outcomes. Although Decree 347 was replaced by Decree 450 of 2024 and subsequently amended through Decree 1503 of 2025, its design remains historically relevant. The study recommends tiered readiness standards, capacity-based assistance, outcome-oriented supervision, and stronger integration of Islamic values with contextual pedagogy.