"Dream - The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) continues to be committed to accelerating the transformation of education, one of which is through the utilization of several digital platforms to strengthen the education ecosystem, particularly in primary and secondary education. Four digital services that have been launched by Kemendikbudristek include the Merdeka Mengajar Platform (PMM), Education Report, School Procurement Information System (SIPLah), and School Activity and Budget Planning Application (ARKAS)."

The Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim said that technology supports educators and educational staff to advance and develop further. “Schools are like organizations. The culture of learning can only be created if the human resources are good. To support the development of human resources, we create various technology platforms that enhance the capacity and performance of educators and educational staff,” he said in Jakarta, some time ago.

As an example, the Merdeka Mengajar Platform (PMM) provided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology helps teachers to participate in training and various skill enhancement programs independently. “They can level up their skills independently. There are tens of thousands of modules available. Teachers can also build learning communities with other teachers. For example, those in Java can build communities or study groups with teachers in Papua or Maluku,” he said.

The Educational Report functions as a tool for reflection and problem identification, allowing educational units to design data-driven improvement strategies. The Minister of Education and Technology explained that this platform is designed to facilitate more measurable and data-driven educational improvements. Based on data as of March 2024, all regional governments have accessed the Educational Report, and 90 percent of them have utilized that information for data-driven planning and budgeting.

 Similarly, for educational units, more than 350 thousand educational units across Indonesia have accessed the Education Report, and nearly 90 percent have utilized it to improve various educational indicators. “I am greatly assisted by the data and the condition of the school's achievements found in the Education Report, so that I and the teachers can determine which priority indicators we will reflect on and improve their quality,” said Eri Anggerianto, Head of SD Negeri 14 Sijuk, Belitung Regency, who is also the Chair of the Two-Peak Learning Community.

The Head of the Special School (SLB) State 1 Jakarta, Dedeh Kurniasih, stated that with the existence of educational reports, the educational evaluation process becomes more directed. “It already outlines the root of the problem and the form of improvement recommendations, such as increasing teacher competence,” she revealed. Not only that, technology platforms like SIPLah and ARKAS are specifically designed to enhance the quality of educational institution management.

"SIPLah is designed to simplify the procurement process of goods and services in these schools, providing a catalog of verified goods and services, allowing schools to place orders more efficiently and transparently. As of now, there are 18 online marketplace partners in the SIPLah ecosystem with a total of 5.7 million products/services offered. Data as of June 2024 records that there are 273,647 schools that have used the platform. With SIPLah, schools can access various products and services needed for educational activities more quickly and easily."

"SIPLah aims to enhance accountability and transparency in the management of school budgets, as well as reduce the potential for deviations in the procurement process. Meanwhile, ARKAS is also designed to facilitate educational staff in schools in planning, recording, and reporting the use of Education Operational Assistance (BOSP) funds. With various updates, ARKAS is now available in its 4th version, offering more practical, convenient, and secure features."

The latest version includes better integration with SIPLah, a more intuitive interface, and automatic tax calculations. Data as of June 2024 indicates that 392,709 or 91.28 percent of active schools are using the application. In the 2023 stakeholder satisfaction research report, it was revealed that 80.99 percent of users are satisfied with using the ARKAS and SIPLah applications.

The innovation presented is considered capable of providing ease and comfort for teachers and school principals in managing BOSP funds. The principal of SMAN 2 Konawe Selatan, Southeast Sulawesi, Safari, revealed that ARKAS and SIPLah have a significant impact on schools because they facilitate planning, administration, and reporting. “The integration of ARKAS with SIPLah makes it much easier for us. The planning process, which previously took a long time for validation, is now much faster,” said Safari.