Evaluation of the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) Program for the Vocational Schools in Surakarta City

Abstract

Poverty is still become the main challenge faced by the Government of Indonesia, counted if 10.1% of Indonesian are still living under the poverty line, meanwhile, 2.9% are living under 1.9 US$ per day. The high number of poverty affected the unequal access to education. The education assistance program, which was implemented using the Indonesia Smart Card or Kartu Indonesia Pintar (KIP) aimed to increase equal access to education for the poor people. The study is conducted by applying the evaluative method, to assess the governance of the Smart Indonesia Card (Kartu Indonesia Pintar, KIP) program for the vocational schools in Surakarta City, Indonesia. The research population is the vocational schools in the Surakarta city area, which were analyzed by the qualitative method, the data obtained by using the deep interview and observation, also documentation analysis which was validated by triangulating the sources, then analyzed by using the CIPP framework, which measures successfulness based on context, input, process, and product parameters. The results of the study indicate that the KIP program has been running effectively and has received a positive response from the community in terms of funding. Some aspects that must be considered to improve the KIP implementation are: [1] the invalid data collection process for people receiving KIP, improper distribution and use of funds according to the target [2], the KIP quota not being fulfilled for all targets of the poor [3], the lack of a significant impact on the learning achievement of the students of the KIP program. Concluded that the KIP program's existence may also minimize dropout rates. To ensure the program's long-term viability, this should be balanced with the competency output of competent and excellent graduates.