Critical Barriers to Realising Inclusive Digital Education in an Urban-Peripheral Context: The Case of Kupang City, Indonesia

Johanis Asadoma, Aloysius Liliweri, David B.W. Pandie, Melkisedek N.B.C. Neolaka

Abstract


This study examines barriers to implementing inclusive digital education policy in under-resourced, urban-peripheral contexts, focusing on Kupang City in Eastern Indonesia. Despite its urban status, Kupang faces infrastructural fragility, limited institutional capacity, and socio-economic disparities that complicate the translation of national reforms, particularly Merdeka Belajar and the Platform Merdeka Mengajar (PMM), into practice. Using a qualitative single-embedded case study, data were collected through 25 semi-structured interviews with national, municipal, school, and community actors, supplemented by policy documents and statistical records. Guided by Grindle’s policy content–context model, Lipsky’s street-level bureaucracy theory, and van Dijk’s digital inclusion framework, the analysis highlights three interconnected dimensions that sustain policy–practice gaps: governance misalignment, technological deficits, and constrained actor agency and resource support. These produce five barriers: weak coordination, limited teacher capacity, street-level discretion, and reliance on unstable external resources. Findings reveal that limited outcomes are shaped less by isolated technical failures than systemic misalignments, resulting in partial adoption, symbolic compliance, and selective inclusion. The study contributes by extending empirical evidence to an under-researched eastern Indonesian context. It underscores the need for adaptive governance, targeted capacity building, and stable resources to align national ambitions with local realities.

Keywords


Inclusive Digital Education; Critical Barriers; Policy Implementation; Governance; Indonesia

Full Text:

PDF

References


Admiraal, W., van Vugt, F., Kranenburg, F., Koster, B., Smit, B., Weijers, S., & Lockhorst, D. (2017). Preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology into K–12 instruction: evaluation of a technology-infused approach. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2016.1163283

Al-Mamary, Y. H. S. (2022). Examining the factors affecting the use of ICT in teaching in Yemeni schools. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2330

Asmawa, Hakim, A., Hermawan, & Hayat, A. (2024). Transforming Public Policy in Developing Countries: A Comprehensive Review of Digital Implementation. Journal of ICT Standardization, 12(3), 337–364. https://doi.org/10.13052/jicts2245-800X.1235

Bulman, G., & Fairlie, R. W. (2016). Technology and Education: Computers, Software, and the Internet. In Handbook of the Economics of Education (Vol. 5). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63459-7.00005-1

Castelnovo, W., & Sorrentino, M. (2024). Agency in multi-level governance systems: The implementation puzzle and the role of ‘intelligent’ local implementers. Public Policy and Administration, 39(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767231185651

Claro, M., & Jara, I. (2020). The end of enlaces: 25 years of an ICT education policy in Chile. Digital Education Review, 37. https://doi.org/10.1344/DER.2020.37.96-108

Creswell, J. W., & David Creswell, J. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches.

Dan Honig, & Lant Pritchett. (2019). The Limits of Accounting-Based Accountability in Education (and Far Beyond): Why More Accounting Will Rarely Solve Accountability Problems. IDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc.

Ertmer, P. A., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T. (2010). Teacher technology change: How knowledge, confidence, beliefs, and culture intersect. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2010.10782551

Fullan, M., Mackay, T., Redman, K., Cropley, M., & Miller, A. (2021). The right drivers for whole system success. Centre for Strategic Education Seminar.

Godziewski, C. (2020). Is ‘Health in All Policies’ everybody’s responsibility? Discourses of multistakeholderism and the lifestyle drift phenomenon. Critical Policy Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2020.1795699

Greany, T. (2020). Place-based governance and leadership in decentralised school systems: evidence from England. Journal of Education Policy. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2020.1792554

Grindle, M. S. (2017). Politics and policy implementation in the third world. In Politics and Policy Implementation in the Third World. https://doi.org/10.2307/2619175

Gustafsson, U. (2022). Size matters: contextual factors in local policy translations of National School Digitalisation Policy. Education and Information Technologies, 27(8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11009-4

Hatlevik, O. E., & Christophersen, K. A. (2013). Digital competence at the beginning of upper secondary school: Identifying factors explaining digital inclusion. Computers and Education, 63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.11.015

Hatlevik, O. E., Guomundsdóttir, G. B., & Loi, M. (2015). Digital diversity among upper secondary students: A multilevel analysis of the relationship between cultural capital, self-efficacy, strategic use of information and digital competence. Computers and Education, 81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.10.019

Hazin, M., Yani, M. T., Trihantoyo, S., Rusdinal, R., Sulastri, S., & Rahmawati, N. W. D. (2025). Analyzing Digitalization in Education Policy in Indonesia through the Policy Analysis Triangle Model. Journal of Posthumanism, 5(1), 998–1011. https://doi.org/10.63332/joph.v5i1.631

Hennessy, S., Haßler, B., & Hofmann, R. (2022). Sustaining pedagogical change at scale in technology-enhanced learning: Lessons from Kenya. British Journal of Educational, 53(4), 866–883. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13199

Hill, M., & Hupe, P. (2021). Implementing public policy: An introduction to the study of operational governance. SAGE Publication Ltd. https://digital.casalini.it/9781529766523

Humes, W. (2022). THE ‘IRON CAGE’ OF EDUCATIONAL BUREAUCRACY. British Journal of Educational Studies, 70(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2021.1899129

Indrawati, S. M., & Kuncoro, A. (2021). Improving Competitiveness Through Vocational and Higher Education: Indonesia’s Vision For Human Capital Development In 2019–2024. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 57(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2021.1909692

Ivanishchenko, K., Busana, G., & Reuter, R. A. P. (2024). Understanding factors affecting fundamental school teachers’ use of technology in Luxembourg through a survey study. Heliyon, 10(7), e28704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28704

Jan A.G.M. van Dijk. (2020). Closing The Digital Divide: The Role of Digital Technologies on Social Development, Well-Being of All and the Approach of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Telematics and Informatics, 34(8).

Kartiasih, F., Djalal Nachrowi, N., Wisana, I. D. G. K., & Handayani, D. (2023). Inequalities of Indonesia’s regional digital development and its association with socioeconomic characteristics: a spatial and multivariate analysis. Information Technology for Development, 29(2–3). https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2022.2110556

Lai, J. W. M., & Bower, M. (2019). How is the use of technology in education evaluated? A systematic review. Computers and Education, 133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.01.010

Lipsky, M. (2010). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public services. In Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392554

Livingstone, S., & Helsper, E. (2007). Gradations in digital inclusion: Children, young people and the digital divide. New Media and Society, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444807080335

Matland, R. E. (1995). Synthesizing the implementation literature: The ambiguity-conflict model of policy implementation. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a037242

McGarr, O., Mifsud, L., & Colomer Rubio, J. C. (2021). Digital competence in teacher education: comparing national policies in Norway, Ireland and Spain. Learning, Media and Technology, 46(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1913182

Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (2021). INSTITUTIONALIZED ORGANIZATIONS: FORMAL STRUCTURE AS MYTH AND CEREMONY. In The New Economic Sociology: A Reader. https://doi.org/10.1086/226550

OECD. (2021). OECD Digital Education Outlook 2021: Pushing the Frontiers with Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Robots. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/589b283f-en

Palvia, P., Baqir, N., & Nemati, H. (2018). ICT for socio-economic development: A citizens’ perspective. Information & Management, 55(2), 160-176.

Peruzzo, C., & Allan, K. (2024). Towards equitable digital learning: Policy and practice considerations. British Journal of Educational Technology, 55(1), 15–32. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13340

Piattoeva, N., & G. Gurova. (2020). Fabricating ‘progress’ through international large-scale assessments in education: A focus on Russia. European Educational Research Journal, 19(2), 118–135. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904119864682

Prahmana, R. C. I., Hartanto, D., Kusumaningtyas, D. A., Ali, R. M., & Muchlas. (2021). Community radio-based blended learning model: A promising learning model in remote area during pandemic era. In Heliyon (Vol. 7, Issue 7). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07511

Ramadani, L., Yovadiani, A., & Dewi, F. (2022). When innocence is no protection: governance failure of digitization and its impact on local level implementation. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-09-2021-0142

Rusdinal, Sulastri, Syahril, Amelia, R., Hazim, M., Yani, M. T., Trihanto, S., & Utama, H. B. (2025). Transformative Policy Model for Digitalising Education: Accelerating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Indonesia. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 24(2), 459–478. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.24.2.23

Selwyn, N., Nemorin, S., Bulfin, S., & Johnson, N. F. (2020). The digital divide in schooling: The multiple dimensions of digital inequality in education. Educational Review, 72(5), 547–566. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1556614

Theodorio, A. O. (2024). Examining the support required by educators for successful technology integration in teacher professional development program. Cogent Education, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2298607

Trucano, M., & Trucano, M. (2016). Saber-ICT framework paper for policy analysis: Documenting national educational technology policies around the world and their evolution over time. World Bank.

UNESCO. (2022). Global Education Monitoring Report 2022: Technology in education – A tool on whose terms? UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381510

Unwin, T., Weber, M., Brugha, M., & Hollow, D. (2020). The future of learning in Sub-Saharan Africa: What role for educational technology? In EdTech Hub. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3748461

van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2005). The deepening divide: Inequality in the information society. In The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452229812

Wang, C., Li, L., & Xu, Z. (2024). Rethinking digital inclusion in education: From access to meaningful learning outcomes. Educational Technology Research and Development, 72(2). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-023-10250-5

Warschauer, M., & Matuchniak, T. (2010). Chapter 6: New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes. Review of Research in Education, 34(1). https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X09349791

West, M., & Lakhani, K. R. (2022). Getting governance right for digital transformation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 63(3), 1–7.

Zainal, A. Z., & Zainuddin, S. Z. (2020). Technology adoption in Malaysian schools: An analysis of national ICT in education policy initiatives. Digital Education Review, 37. https://doi.org/10.1344/DER.2020.37.172-194


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025 Johanis Asadoma, Aloysius Liliweri, David B.W. Pandie, Melkisedek N.B.C. Neolaka

Jurnal Public Policy
p-ISSN: 2477-5738  I  e-ISSN: 2502-0528  I  DOI: 10.35308
Jl. Alue Peunyareng, Ujong Tanoh Darat, Meureubo, Kabupaten Aceh Barat, Aceh 23681, Indonesia
(0655) 7110535 l +621260313742 l +6285277110911
License Creative Commons is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License