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Indonesia has seen impressive strides since initiating extensive education reforms beginning in 1945, including expanding compulsory education from 6 to 12 years and boosting vocational school numbers. By the 1990s, enrollment approached near-perfect levels, and secondary student-teacher ratios improved. Despite these advances, the quality of education has lagged. Education analyst Indra Kismi highlights that Indonesia ranks poorly in international assessments such as PISA, with recent scores sinking even further. In 2022, reports pegged Indonesia's literacy and comprehension levels as alarmingly low, rendering many youth effectively functionally illiterate—despite being enrolled in school.