Indonesian student education is a subject that touches on culture, policy, economics, and the daily lives of millions of young people. With tens of millions of pupils in classrooms across the country, the system is one of the largest in the world. Grasping the student perspective requires looking at everything from early childhood through university, and at the many forces that shape their journeys.

For many young Indonesians, formal learning begins at around age five or six in kindergarten, known as Taman Kanak-Kanak or TK. This is usually followed by six years of elementary school, or Sekolah Dasar, where students learn basic subjects like mathematics, Bahasa Indonesia, science, social studies, and religious education. What stands out in these early years is the strong emphasis on memorization, discipline, and scholarship programs respect for teachers.