DOI: 10.15642/jkpi.2024.14.2.

104-117
p-ISSN 2088-9305; e-ISSN 2777-0532
104-117

THE CONCEPT OF QUALITY IN CURRICULUM: A REVIEW OF

THE LITERATURE ON DETERMINING CURRICULUM QUALITY

Wasilatul Ibad1*
IAI Al-Khoziny Sidoarjo Indonesia 1
1*[email protected]

Corresponding Author: Wasilatul Ibad

How to cite this article: Ibad, Wasilatul. “The Concept of Quality in Curriculum: A Review of
The Literature on Determining Curriculum Quality”. Jurnal Kependidikan Islam 14, no. 2: 104-117.
https://jurnalftk.uinsa.ac.id/index.php/JKPI/article/view/3695.

Abstract
The curriculum is a description of what students should learn in school. The curriculum itself includes many subjects
and objects to be applied in educational institutions. Teachers, material subjects, students, and many other things are
required to achieve worthwhile and useful learning outcomes and then realize the aim of education. The quality of the
curriculum is important to the success of education in order to create students who become good people in society. This
paper discusses the concept of quality in curriculum education in general. The aim of the research is to clarify the
perception of curriculum quality based on references to international and national curricula. The authors used qualitative
research with literature review technique compilation data. This paper summarizes the views and perceptions of national
curriculum and UNESCO curriculum quality by analyzing the curriculum implemented in Indonesia. The result
revealed that the quality of the curriculum has four criteria (development, the curriculum, the implementation, and
evaluation) that are then developed to obey the education national standard (SNP): competence of graduates standards,
contents standards, process standards, and assessment standards. Based on the data, almost 70% of the implementation
of the development and improvement of the Merdeka Indonesia curriculum is going well. To date, there are 293,373
formal education units that have implemented the Merdeka curriculum optimally.
Keyword: curriculum quality, national curriculum and merdeka curriculum

Abstrak

Kurikulum merupakan gambaran tentang apa yang harus dipelajari siswa di sekolah. Kurikulum sendiri melibatkan
banyak peran dan objek lainnya untuk diterapkan di lembaga pendidikan. Guru, materi pelajaran, siswa, dan
banyak hal lainnya diperlukan untuk mencapai hasil belajar yang sesuai dan mampu mewujudkan tujuan
pendidikan. Mutu kurikulum sangat menentukan keberhasilan pendidikan guna mencetak peserta didik menjadi
manusia yang baik di masyarakat. Tulisan ini membahas tentang konsep mutu dalam kurikulum pendidikan secara
umum. Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk memperjelas persepsi kualitas kurikulum berdasarkan referensi internasional
dan kurikulum nasional. Penulis menggunakan penelitian kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data literatur
review. Tulisan ini merangkum pandangan persepsi kurikulum nasional dan kualitas kurikulum UNESCO dengan
melihat kurikulum yang diterapkan di Indonesia. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa mutu kurikulum
mempunyai empat kriteria (pengembangan, kurikulum, pelaksanaan, evaluasi) kemudian dikembangkan sesuai
standar nasional Pendidikan (SNP); standar kompetensi lulusan, standar isi, standar proses, standar penilaian.
Berdasarkan data hampir 70% pelaksanaan pengembangan dan peningkatan kurikulum Merdeka i Indonesia

104
Copyright: © 2024. The author(s)
Jurnal Kependidikan Islam is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
The Concept of Quality in Curriculum: A Review of The Literature on Determining Curriculum Quality
berjalan dengan baik, hingga saat ini terdapat 293.373 satuan Pendidikan formal sudah menerapkan kurikulum
Merdeka dengan optimal.
Kata Kunci: kualitas kurikulum, kurikulum nasional dan kurikulum merdeka

INTRODUCTION
The curriculum has an important role in the world of education as a guide to future educational
goals so that it runs better and optimally.1 Curriculum is a study that addresses all educational
phenomena.2 Curriculum comes from a Latin word that was brought directly into English. Its first Latin
meaning is "run," "race," "track," and its second meaning is "race track," "career." This metaphorical
extension, first from race and running to intellectual activity, According to educational experts, there are
four definitions offered: curriculum as an idea, curriculum as a written plan, which is actually the
embodiment of an idea, curriculum as an activity, which is a reality, and curriculum as a result, which is
a consequence of an activity.3 A very short definition was put forward by Hilda Taba from America in
1962, which stated that the curriculum is a 'learning plan'.4
These different understandings of the curriculum reflect differences in understanding of learning,
the roles of teachers and students, and content goals. However, from several different opinions, it can be
concluded that the curriculum is a normative document that establishes a framework for planning
learning experiences. Depending on the country, the type of education and training, and the institution,
the curriculum may determine, among other things, learning outcomes, objectives, content, place, and
duration of learning, teaching, and assessment methods to a greater or lesser extent.
Curriculum and education are an inseparable relationship. As is known, the curriculum acts as a
guide in the implementation of education. If an education does not have a curriculum, then educational
goals will not be achieved. The importance of a curriculum as a guide for implementing education means
that the quality of education is also determined by the quality of a curriculum.
Quality has become a critical issue in modern competition. In the Oxford dictionary, quality is
defined as the standard of something when compared with other things of the same type. which means
that quality is a standard or measure of something when compared with other things of the same nature.
One example of the curriculum phenomenon is in Indonesia. We know that Indonesia is always trying
to improve the quality of its education, one of which is by making changes to the curriculum. It can be
seen that in Indonesia, there are frequent changes to the curriculum. Previously, the KTSP curriculum
(educational unit level curriculum) in 2006 was replaced by the 2013 curriculum, and now the independent
curriculum has finally been implemented.
This article discusses the concept of quality in relation to the curriculum. We will analyze how to
determine the quality of a curriculum and what approaches influence the quality of a curriculum. There
are several previous studies that are comparable to this research. First, Gillian Saunders-Smits and Erik
de Graaffen titled "Assessment of curriculum quality through alumni research." The similarities between
previous research and this research have the same research object, namely finding important indicators
of curriculum quality, while the difference is that this research analyzes all aspects while previous research
focuses on alumni research..5 Monika Wertfein, Anita Spies-Kofler, and Fabienne Becker-Stoll have
conducted research entitled "Quality Curriculum for Under-Threes: The Impact of Structural Standards."
Previous research and this research discuss the quality of education for children under five. The quality
of education reported by practitioners was found to be associated with higher competence (with regard
to center programs, documentation, teamwork, and staff qualifications), the difference being that

1 Rudi Martin and Mangaratua Marianus Simanjorang, “Pentingnya Peranan Kurikulum yang Sesuai dalam Pendidikan di
Indonesia” 1 (2022).
2 Kieran Egan, “What Is Curriculum?,” Curriculum Inquiry 8, no. 1 (March 1, 1978): 65–72.
3 Mara Samin Lubis, Telaah Kurikulum (Medan: In Perdana Publishing, 2016).
4 Kimberly P Foley, Treah S Haggerty, and Natasha Harrison, “Curriculum Development: Preparing Trainees to Care for

Children and Adolescents with Psychiatric Disorders,” The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine 50, no. 1 (July 1, 2015):
50–59.
5 Gillian Saunders-Smits and Erik de Graaff, “Assessment of Curriculum Quality through Alumni Research,” European

Journal of Engineering Education 37, no. 2 (May 1, 2012): 133–142.

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previous research focused on the quality of education for children under three years old, whereas this
research focuses on identifying the quality of education in schools.6 Third, Lee Harvey and Diana Green,
entitled "Defining Quality, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education," The similarity between
previous research and this research has the same research object, namely finding important indicators of
curriculum quality, while the difference is that previous research focuses on quality, assessment, and
evaluation in higher education, while this research focuses on identifying quality in schools.7
Based on the theory and several curriculum phenomena described above, a quality curriculum has
a significant influence on the quality of education, so researchers are interested in conducting research
with the title "curriculum quality concept with various literature reviews from journals, internet media,
and online news media about determining quality curriculum.").

1. What Makes a Quality Curriculum?

A curriculum is a learning design designed to be a reference for learning in educational institutions.
The curriculum is designed based on ideas from philosophy, psychology, science, technology, and culture.
Key indicators of the success of curriculum quality include the involvement of the quality of student
learning and the effectiveness of students in applying the learning they receive at school to their living
environment in society, as well as shaping them into competent individuals in terms of social, cognitive,
moral, psychological, and emotional control.8 A quality curriculum increases the potential for
effectiveness in learning. Both have a cause-and-effect relationship, which causes the quality of the
curriculum to be one of the biggest factors that has an important role in the success of learning in the
classroom. Besides that, other factors also have an important role, such as the quality of educators, the
comfort students have in receiving learning, the facilities and infrastructure provided by educational
institutions, and other factors.9
Curriculum design is based on adjustments to what students will face after completing their studies
at an educational institution at a certain level. Therefore, there will always be changes and developments
in the curriculum to adapt to the dynamics of education at that time.10 Objectively, the quality of the
curriculum is seen in the reliability of students to obtain all learning comprehensively, apply it, and be
able to develop the knowledge, skills, and values obtained to shape themselves into meaningful,
productive, and useful individuals in their future lives in society.11 Learning in schools occurs, of course,
in a range of intended and unintended ways. Intended learning (frequently referred to as the ‘planned’ or
‘formal’ curriculum) most often occurs in the classroom and other ‘controlled’ settings. Its focus is
the'state-endorsed' curriculum as implemented by teachers. The outcomes of the formal curriculum are
normally assessed in various formal ways by teachers and examination authorities.12
The Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and the Hohn Hopkins Center for Research and
Reform Education stated the urgency of curriculum in the world of education, including:13

6 Monika Wertfein, Anita Spies‐Kofler, and Fabienne Becker‐Stoll, “Quality Curriculum for Under‐threes: The Impact of
Structural Standards,” Early Years 29, no. 1 (March 1, 2009): 19–31.
7 Lee Harvey and Diana Green, “Defining Quality, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education,” Vol. 18, No. 1, 1993
8 Philip Stabback, What Makes a Quality Curriculum? In-Progress Reflection No. 2 on “Current and Critical Issues in Curriculum and

Learning,” UNESCO International Bureau of Education (UNESCO International Bureau of Education, March 2016).
9 Saunders-Smits and de Graaff, “Assessment of Curriculum Quality through Alumni Research.”
10 C. L. Reardon et al., “A Quality Improvement Curriculum for Psychiatry Residents,” … (2020),

https://www.mededportal.org/doi/abs/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10870.
11 N. E. Akpanumo and M. E. Tom, “Quality Assurance Indices and Implementation of Social Sudies Curriculum in Public

Secondary Schools in Akwa Ibom …,” International Journal of Education … (brainspecresearch.com, 2023),
https://brainspecresearch.com/publish/journal/1701857594_IJESD%20Journal%20Vol.%202,%20Issue%202%20Septem
ber%202023.pdf#page=73.
12 Stabback, What Makes a Quality Curriculum?
13 Dr David Steiner, “Curriculum Research: What We Know and Where We Need to Go” (n.d.).

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a. Curriculum is a critical factor in student academic success;

b. A comprehensive, content-rich curriculum is a common feature of academically high-
performing countries;
c. The cumulative impact of high-quality curriculum can be significant and matters most to
achievement in the upper grades, where typical year-on-year learning gains are far lower than
in previous grades;
d. Because the preponderance of instructional materials is self-selected by individual teachers,
most students are taught through idiosyncratic curricula that are not defined by school districts
or states;
e. Research comparing one curriculum to another is very rare and, therefore, not usually
actionable.

2. National Curriculum in Indonesia

As with the previous discussion, the curriculum is a learning design designed to achieve learning
goals in the education unit, therefore the curriculum design is adapted to the dynamics of education at
that time.14 So it can be said that changing the curriculum is a necessity considering that developments in
the times are becoming increasingly sophisticated and this is affecting the world of education, which has
given rise to the definition that education is dynamic towards the times themselves.15 After Indonesia's
independence, the education curriculum implemented at that time was still adopted by the Dutch
leadership during the colonial period. To date, Indonesia has experienced 10 curriculum changes,
including over a year:16

a. Rencana Pelajaran Terurai (1947)

During independence, a curriculum emerged whose name was the 1947 curriculum, the term
used in Dutch was called "leer plan" meaning lesson plan, and the term curriculum in English was
less familiar among the public. The political nature is a characteristic of the 1947 curriculum
because from the start it was oriented towards Dutch education which was transformed for the
national interest. It can be understood that the colonial education system was known as a very
discriminatory system. Schools were built to differentiate educational services for Dutch children,
foreign eastern children and native children. The indigenous group is divided into the lower social
strata and the priyai. The implementation of the 1947 curriculum did not emphasize cognitive
aspects but only prioritized character education such as building a sense of nationalism. The next
aspect is the main objective in the 1947 Lesson Plan curriculum. The program structure in the 1947
Lesson Plan is divided into two parts, namely the program structure using regional languages and
Indonesian. The subject structure in the 1947 lesson plan curriculum is separate or in the
curriculum context it is called a separated curriculum.

b. Rencana Pelajaran Terurai (1952)

In 1952 improvements were made to the curriculum in Indonesia which became known as the
1952 curriculum. This curriculum was more detailed in each subject which was then given the name
"1952 Decomposed Lesson Plan" and did not yet use the term curriculum. The 1952 curriculum

14 I. Nuraeni et al., “Education Transformation: Curriculum Management to Improve Learning Quality in RA Rahmatullah,”
Edumaspul: Jurnal … (2023), https://ummaspul.e-journal.id/maspuljr/article/view/6806.
15 Foley, Haggerty, and Harrison, “Curriculum Development.”
16 Farah Insani, “Sejarah Perkembangan Kurikulum di Indonesia Sejak Awal Kemerdekaan hingga saat ini,” As-Salam: Jurnal

Studi Hukum Islam & Pendidikan 8 (June 28, 2019): 43–64.

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framework is relatively the same as the 1947 curriculum. However, the national education system
has become the goal of this curriculum. UU no. 4 of 1950 concerning the basics of education and
teaching in schools influenced the emergence of the 1950 curriculum. How to live a good life is
very important to connect with character which is the door to the goal of curriculum improvement.
And real life in society (thematic) is the most prominent thing and also a characteristic of the 1952
curriculum. In the context of the 1952 Outlined Lesson Plan, subjects are classified into five groups
of study areas, namely: 1) Moral, 2) Intelligence, 3) Emotional/artistic 4) Skills and 5) Physical.

c. Rencana Pendidikan Dasar (1964)

The curriculum in Indonesia in 1964 underwent further refinement. The concepts of active,
creative and productive learning were issues developed in the 1964 Education Plan. This concept
requires every school to guide children to be able to think of their own problem solving solutions
to various existing problems. Thus, it can be understood that the curriculum concept in this era is
more about how students are active, creative and productive in finding solutions to various
problems that are developing and existing in society. The learning method used in the 1964
curriculum is a method called guided mutual cooperation. Apart from that, the krida day was set
on Saturday by the government.

d. Kurikulum Sekolah Dasar (1968)

The birth of the 1968 curriculum was due to ideological political considerations adopted by the
government at that time, namely the New Order. Correlated subject curriculum is a characteristic
of the 1968 curriculum structure, meaning that material at lower education levels has a correlation
to education levels at subsequent levels. The 1968 curriculum is identical to theoretical subject
content, not related to objective provisions in the field or real life (thematic). The learning methods
used in this curriculum are very dependent on educational science and psychology at the end of the
1960s.

e. Kurikulum Sekolah Dasar (1975)

National development was the background to the birth of the 1975 curriculum as a result of the
many changes that occurred, especially since 1969. Many factors influenced government programs
and policies which resulted in these reforms. The 1975 curriculum is a curriculum that is centralized
or created by the central government and schools only implement it. The 1975 curriculum has the
principle that the aim of education must be effective and efficient. The 1975 curriculum received a
lot of criticism from implementers in the field. Teachers are kept busy writing details of what will
be achieved from each learning activity.

f. Kurikulum 1984
The 1984 curriculum is a refinement of the 1975 curriculum and uses a process approach. In this
case, the objective factor remains important even though the process approach is used. This
curriculum is also often called the "Enhanced 1975 Curriculum". The subject of study is students.
A model like this is used for active learning because students will always be active in learning. From
observing something, grouping, to discuss, to report. However, many schools implement it well
and as a result students do not carry out their learning well and are just noisy in class.

g. Kurikulum Berbasis Kompetensi/KBK (2004)

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Competency-based curriculum (KBK) is an approach concept, a curriculum strategy that
emphasizes the mastery of certain competencies. Students not only master knowledge and
understanding, but also skills, attitudes, interests, motivation and values so they can do things
responsibly. Ministry of National Education explains the characteristics of a competency-based
curriculum, namely; Paying attention to what students legally obtain during teaching and learning,
the final result of learning is that children have religion and skills, there are various learning
methods, learning resources do not only rely on teachers but on everything that contains education,
assessment is based on the process that students go through and the results.

h. Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan/KTSP (2006)

The National Education Standards Agency (BSNP) has created Competency Standards and basic
competencies, which are derived from Graduate Competency Standards (SKL), which are used as
references must be from core competencies and graduation standards, while the development
principle is KBS which is designed to empower regions and schools. in planning, implementing
and managing as well as assessing learning processes and outcomes according to their respective
regions. KTSP was born from the enthusiasm of the regions that education is not only the
responsibility of the central government but also the responsibility of regional governments,
therefore, seen from the pattern or model of curriculum development, KTSP is one of the
decentralized curriculum models.

i. Kurikulum 2013
The KTSP curriculum is considered imperfect and still has many shortcomings, especially now that
it is in a digital era where anything can be done with technology. The KTSP must be immediately
changed to the 2013 curriculum. The 2013 curriculum places more emphasis on character
education, with the hope of producing people who are productive, creative, innovative, and have
character. Improving learning processes and outcomes that are directed towards the formation of
good character and students with noble character in accordance with graduate competency
standards in each educational unit is the goal of character education in the 2013 curriculum. The
2013 curriculum emphasizes developing students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes holistically.
Knowledge, competency, skills, and attitudes are determined by report cards and determine
students' grade, promotion, and graduation.

j. Kurikulum Merdeka (It is planned that it will be implemented in stages starting in 2024)
The Merdeka Curriculum is a recovery curriculum from Curriculum 13 to the Merdeka Curriculum,
which has been formalized by the Minister of Education. In the merdeka merdeka curriculum,
there is a project divided into two: short-term and long-term. The short term is one month, or until
the material can be one chapter. Long-term projects are based on the profiles of Pancasila students
(6 profiles of Pancasila students). Long-term projects, not in the form of products but rather to
improve and hone the six profiles of Pancasila students. It is preferred to assess the improvement
or change in student attitudes; the period can be two or three months.

RESEARCH METHOD

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This research uses a qualitative research design with a descriptive-qualitative approach.17 Data
collection techniques include literature reviews, reviewing several relevant studies, and analyzing them
more deeply to produce new ideas according to the focus of the research object, thus involving the
integration of approaches, theories, and methods from various scientific disciplines to understand and
explore a phenomenon or problem.18 Literature review research is a research method that uses library
sources with primary and secondary data sources coming from books, documents, national journals,
international journals, articles, and previous research that has been analyzed by the author regarding the
problems to be studied in this research.19 Researchers use descriptive analytical methods by collecting,
identifying, organizing, and analyzing various data.20 The literature study procedure for this research is as
follows:

No. STAGES DETAILS

1 Planning and Objective a. Establishing the framework
Formulation b. Identifying the research object
c. Developing criteria for the research object
d. Formulating the research problem to become
research questions
2 Data collection, evaluation and a. Research and screening to determine quality
previous analysis literature studies as the fundamental reference for
the research object
b. Classifying references according to relevant research
objects
3 Analysis and interpretation a. Determining keywords and defining and expanding
meanings based on obtained references through
paraphrasing and adding the author's perspective
b. Describing answers to address research questions
based on facts from cited references
4 Presentation a. Analyzing and interpreting the study to convey the
results of the author's thoughts that have been
summarized with additional facts based on relevant
references to the readers

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

1. Quality Curriculum in Indonesia as Merdeka Curriculum
The quality of the curriculum determines the quality of learning that takes place in the classroom
between educators and students; therefore, the value of the quality of the curriculum requires
improvement and development of curriculum values to face developments in the world of education,
from conventional to more practical and modern.21 The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research
and Technology has established the latest curriculum, namely the Merdeka Curriculum, which is

17 Chiara Pattaro, “Character Education: Themes and Researches. An Academic Literature Review,” Italian Journal of Sociology
of Education 8, no. Italian Journal of Sociology of Education 8/1 (February 2016): 6–30.
18 Edgar Rodríguez-Dorans and Paula Jacobs, “‘Making Narrative Portraits: A Methodological Approach to Analysing

Qualitative Data,’” International Journal of Social Research Methodology 23, no. 6 (November 1, 2020): 611–623.
19 Dewi Ambarwati et al., “Studi Literatur: Peran Inovasi Pendidikan Pada Pembelajaran Berbasis Teknologi Digital |

Ambarwati | Jurnal Inovasi Teknologi Pendidikan” 8, no. 2 (2021), accessed October 20, 2023,
https://journal.uny.ac.id/index.php/jitp/article/view/43560.
20 R. Poppy Yaniawati, “Penelitian Studi Kepustakaan (Library Research), Bandung: disajikan pada acara “Penyamaan

Persepsi Penelitian Studi Kepustakaan” di Lingkungan Dosen FKIP Unpas, 14 April 2020.
21 Ahmad Arifai, “Pengembangan kurikulum pesantren, madrasah dan sekolah,” Raudhah Proud To Be Professionals : Jurnal

Tarbiyah Islamiyah 3, no. 2 (December 17, 2018): 13–20.

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planned to be implemented in stages in all educational units in Indonesia at all levels of formal
education.22 The Merdeka Curriculum is a renewable curriculum implemented by Indonesia starting
in the 2022–2023 academic year, with the hope that it will further strengthen the involvement of the
application of technology to improve the quality of education.23 The Merdeka Curriculum gives
educators the freedom to create quality learning according to students' needs and learning
environments.24
According to the UNESCO (2016) statement, curriculum can be understood as the totality of
what children learn while at school, including what they learn through classroom activities,
interdisciplinary tasks, and across the school, for example, in the playground, at lunchtime when
eating (civic responsibilities, etc.). This curricular totality also includes opportunities for wider
achievement through sport, music, debate, and the like. Curriculum is defined in a holistic, process-
oriented way. This definition is based on the belief that, while curriculum might commonly be
perceived as a set of documents, the quality of those documents is closely connected to the processes
used to develop them and to the means through which they are put into practice. In other words,
judging the quality of the curriculum itself cannot be done in isolation from the broader processes
of curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation.25

22 Cut Rita Zahara and Iqbal Ridha, Kampus Merdeka Seri 6: Penerapan Kurikulum Kampus Merdeka di Era COVID-19 Dalam
Prespektif Tenaga Didik (Syiah Kuala University Press, 2021).
23 B. Bangkara et al., “Improving the Quality of Counseling Services for Students Based on Digital Applications in Line with

the Implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum,” Int. J. Health Sci.(Qassim … (academia.edu, n.d.),
https://www.academia.edu/download/93708671/9489.pdf.
24 Pusat Kurikulum dan Pembelajaran, “Kurikulum Merdeka,” Kurikulum Merdeka, accessed January 30, 2024,

http://kurikulum.kemdikbud.go.id/kurikulum-merdeka/.
25 Stabback, What Makes a Quality Curriculum?

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Figure 1 Curriculum Quality Criteria

In Indonesia, the curriculum is one of the 8 national education standards (SNP) which regulate
material content and learning design, namely content standards.26 National Education Standards
which regulate the quality of education in Indonesia so that it meets the standards that have been set
so that quality learning can be designed. Content standards are minimum criteria that cover the scope
of material to achieve graduate competency in certain pathways, levels and types of education.27

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, as an institution that has
authority in education, enforces a policy related to curriculum development, namely the merdeka
curriculum, which is implemented in educational institutions as one of the choices or additional
options for learning recovery in 2022 to 2024. Several programs support the implementation of the
merdeka curriculum enacted by the government, including the movers school program and the
vocational high school center of excellence.28 From this program, it can seek to improve the
quality of a good
education by

implementing the Merdeka curriculum so that it becomes a good practice and the learning content
of the Merdeka curriculum at the driving school or vocational high school center of excellence is
well identified. It can be a lesson for other educational units. Several merdekacurriculum strategies
for merdekapathways will be used as a follow-up to the Ministry of Education and Culture policy.29

The quality of education will not be satisfactory if the components of education will not be
satisfactory if the components of education that include the foundation, objectives, curriculum,
teacher competence and professionalism, student-teacher relations patterns, learning
methodologies, infrastructure, evaluation, financing, and other elements, are managed as is without
careful planning. Meanwhile, to improve quality education, it is necessary to have good management,
especially in the curriculum that will be taught to students regarding the objectives, content
or teaching materials, implementation, and evaluation ofthe curriculum. Various problems, such
as the low level of school management, characterize the many phenomena of poor quality in some
educational institutions in Indonesia. Educational institutions need control that has a type of

26 Lubis, Telaah Kurikulum.

27 PP Nomor 57 Tahun 2021 Tentang Standar Nasional Pendidikan, n.d.
28 S. N. Kamila and AHA RM, “Implementation of Merdeka Curriculum in Improving the Quality of Senior High School,”

Jurnal Educatio FKIP UNMA (2023), https://ejournal.unma.ac.id/index.php/educatio/article/view/4591.

29 C. S. Rochmat et al., “The Quality of Education from Islamic Perspective Analysis of The Merdeka Belajar Curriculum in

Facing The Society 5.0 Era,” Jurnal … (2023), https://journal.unimma.ac.id/index.php/tarbiyatuna/article/view/8633.

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planning that is not just to respond to changes that are expected to occur in the future but more
than that. Educational institutions need effective management to create future institutions through
the changes implemented now. In this case, the curriculum is the pinnacle that significantly
influences the quality of educational institutions.30

2. Curriculum Development based on Education National Standard (SNP) Perspective

The educational curriculum is required to meet educational needs and desires that are adapted
to the dynamics of educational development in a particular era. The development of the national
curriculum in Indonesia is carried out by referring to the National Education Standards (SNP) in
order to realize educational goals. The standards used in curriculum development refer to graduate
competency standards, content standards, process standards, and education assessment standards.
These four standards will be indicators of the quality of the curriculum implemented and will be
implemented in Indonesia.31 The national education standards are regulated in Regulation PP
Number 4 of 2022 concerning amendments to PP Number 57 of 2021 concerning National
Education Standards.32 In more detail regarding the four curriculum development standards,
including:

a. Graduate competency standards

Graduate Competency Standards are formulated in an integrated manner in the form of a
description consisting of 8 competencies; including 6 P5 competencies (Strengthening
Pancasila Student Profile Project) and 2 other competencies literacy and numeracy;
b. Content standards
Preparation of content standards is carried out by formulating a scope of learning material that
is appropriate to develop student competency in accordance with Graduate Competency
Standards, making adjustments to student learning progress at each level, formulating a scope
of learning material that provides flexibility to educators to facilitate students in developing
their competency and potential;
c. Process standards
Process standards serve as guidelines for implementing an effective and efficient learning
process so as to optimally develop students' potential, initiative, abilities and independence.
These include standard indicators; planning, implementing and assessing the learning process;
d. Education assessment standards
Assessment standards take the form of formative and summative assessments. Formative
assessment aims to monitor and improve the learning process and evaluate the achievement of
learning objectives, while summative assessment at the primary and secondary education levels aims
to assess the achievement of student learning outcomes as a basis for determining grade level
promotion and graduation from the education unit, carried out through mechanisms determined by
the unit. Education with reference to graduate competency standards.
The 4 curriculum development standards can be collaborated with the criteria for quality
curriculum categories according to UNESCO to achieve effective curriculum quality. As in Figure 1
regarding curriculum quality criteria There are 4 categories of a curriculum that is said to be quality,

30 Kamila and RM, “Implementation of Merdeka Curriculum in Improving the Quality of Senior High School.”
31 Pusat Kurikulum dan Pembelajaran, “Pengembangan Kurikulum Sesuai SNP,” Sistem Informasi Kurikulum Nasional,
accessed January 30, 2024, http://kurikulum.kemdikbud.go.id/pengembangan-kurikulum.
32 Peraturan Pemerintah, PP No. 4 Tahun 2022 Standar Nasional Pendidikan, n.d., 4, accessed January 30, 2024,

http://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/196151/pp-no-4-tahun-2022.
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including; development of the curriculum, curriculum itself, implementation of curriculum, and
evaluation of curriculum.33 The table below describe that;

Criteria Description
Planned and systematic
Inclusive and consulvative
Development of the
Led by curriculum professionals
Curriculum
Cyclical in nature
Sustainable
Values each child and holds that everu child matters equally
Comprise high quality, relevant and appropriate ‘content’ and contributes to the
The Curriculum Itself development of competence
Is well organized and structured
Is underpinned by a set of assumptions about how childresn learn
Students
Implementation of the Teachers
Curriculum Schools/Learning environments
Education systems and authorities
Systematic and planned
Evaluation Reguler
Conducted by qualified and experienced people

The development and improvement of the implementation of the independent curriculum will
continue to be carried out until all educational units are able to implement the independent
curriculum optimally, with the hope of being able to achieve the goals of Indonesian education as
stated in the ideals of the Indonesian nation in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution, paragraph 4
"...to make the life of the nation intelligent …”.34 There are 293.373 formal education units at all
levels of education that have implemented the independent curriculum.35

Figure 2 IKM (Implementasi Kurikulum Merdeka) Dissemination Map 2024

33 Stabback, What Makes a Quality Curriculum?

34 R. M. I. Abdillah and S. Asiah, “Strategies to Face the Challenges of the Independent Curriculum in Improving the
Quality of Islamic-Based Education,” AN-NUHA (2023), http://ejurnal.stai-
nurulhidayah.ac.id/index.php/nha/article/view/15.
35 Pusat Kurikulum dan Pembelajaran, “Pelaksana IKM,” Sistem Informasi Kurikulum Nasional, accessed January 30, 2024,

http://kurikulum.kemdikbud.go.id/pelaksana-ikm/.

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The Concept of Quality in Curriculum: A Review of The Literature on Determining Curriculum Quality
From Figure 2 above, we get data that almost 70% of educational units in Indonesia have
implemented the Independent Curriculum through the Driving School Program, Vocational High
School Centers of Excellence, and the Implementation of the Independent Pathway Independent
Curriculum.36

CONCLUSION
A quality educational curriculum determines the quality of learning in achieving educational goals
for an educational institution. According to UNESCO, there are four types of criteria for a quality
curriculum: development of the curriculum, curriculum itself, implementation of the curriculum, and
evaluation of the curriculum. In its implementation, it refers to the National Education Standards
regulated in Government Regulation Number 4 of 2022 regarding content standards, which determine
standards for implementing curriculum content that must be contained to be delivered to students in the
classroom by educators and facilitated by an effective learning environment by the education unit.
Furthermore, curriculum development in Indonesia refers to four national curriculum development
standards, including graduate competency standards, content standards, process standards, and education
assessment standards.
In maintaining the quality of the education curriculum, the curriculum itself must adapt to the
dynamics of education, which continues to develop rapidly and is influenced by the times in a particular
era. Therefore, curriculum changes will always exist to meet the needs and desires of the nation,
producing a generation of qualified nations that will be able to adapt themselves in the future as they
plunge into the community environment. Therefore, Indonesia has changed the curriculum 10 times,
with the last change in 2022, namely the independent curriculum. The Merdeka Curriculum is a
curriculum that is updated from the previous curriculum, namely the 2013 curriculum, which was
established starting in 2022 and will gradually be implemented in all educational units in Indonesia starting
in 2024. Currently, there are a total of 293,373 education units in Indonesia implementing the
independent curriculum at all levels of formal education.
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