Kesenjangan Kualitas Sekolah: Tantangan Pemerataan Pendidikan Dasar di Pesisiran Jawa dan Implikasinya di ranah Keberagaman islam

Abstract: This study aims to deeply analyze the gap in basic education in Weleri District, Kendal Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia, specifically Weleri Village, correcting the initial focus that was directed at the UIN campus environment. Using a qualitative approach with a case study design, data were collected through unstructured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, then analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model with source triangulation techniques to ensure data validity involving eight key informants. The most important findings reveal that the educational gap in Kendal is a manifestation of significant multidimensional structural injustice, encompassing spatial disparities, educational attainment, and the distribution of human resources. Spatially, there is a concentration of quality schools in the center of Weleri District, while coastal areas experience limited access due to the "urban bias" of regional budgets. This phenomenon creates educational segregation from an early age. Only 35-40% of coastal youth successfully continue to high school due to economic barriers, distance, and a lack of scholarship information. The unequal distribution of certified teachers worsens the quality of learning and has the potential to trigger socio-religious fragmentation due to limited moderate Islamic insight in marginalized areas and reproduces intergenerational poverty. This confirms that the low quality of education is not an individual choice, but rather a systemic consequence of inequitable planning. Therefore, an urgent, holistic affirmative policy intervention is needed, encompassing equitable infrastructure and teacher distribution reform to ensure equal educational rights for every child in Kendal, in order to realize sustainable social justice that is responsive to the geographic context. This research provides a critical contribution in the form of a concrete empirical foundation for the formulation of affirmative policies that profoundly break the cycle of poverty and educational injustice in the coastal areas of Central Java, while also enriching the scientific literature on the sociology of education on the reproduction of injustice in marginalized areas in a comprehensive and sustainable manner.
Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis secara mendalam kesenjangan pendidikan dasar di Kecamatan Weleri, Kabupaten Kendal, Provinsi Jawa Tengah Indonesia khususnya Desa Weleri, mengoreksi fokus awal yang sempat mengarah pada lingkungan kampus UIN. Menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan desain studi kasus, data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara tidak terstruktur, observasi partisipatif, dan analisis dokumen, kemudian dianalisis menggunakan model interaktif Miles dan Huberman dengan teknik triangulasi sumber untuk memastikan validitas data melibatkan delapan informan kunci. Temuan terpenting mengungkap bahwa kesenjangan pendidikan di Kendal merupakan manifestasi ketidakadilan struktural multidimensi signifikan, mencakup disparitas spasial, capaian pendidikan, dan distribusi sumber daya manusia. Secara spasial, terdapat konsentrasi sekolah berkualitas di pusat Kecamatan Weleri, sementara wilayah pesisir mengalami keterbatasan akses akibat "urban bias" anggaran daerah, fenomena ini menciptakan segregasi pendidikan sejak dini. Hanya 35-40% remaja pesisir berhasil melanjutkan ke SMA karena hambatan ekonomi, jarak, dan minimnya informasi beasiswa. Distribusi guru bersertifikat yang timpang memperburuk kualitas pembelajaran dan berpotensi memicu fragmentasi sosial-keagamaan akibat terbatasnya wawasan keislaman moderat di wilayah marginal serta mereproduksi kemiskinan antargenerasi. Hal ini menegaskan bahwa rendahnya kualitas pendidikan bukan pilihan individu, melainkan konsekuensi sistemik dari perencanaan yang belum berkeadilan. Oleh karena itu, diperlukan intervensi kebijakan afirmatif holistik mendesak mencakup pemerataan infrastruktur dan reformasi distribusi guru untuk memastikan hak pendidikan setara bagi setiap anak Kendal demi mewujudkan keadilan sosial berkelanjutan yang responsif terhadap konteks geografis. Penelitian ini memberikan kontribusi kritis berupa landasan empiris konkret bagi formulasi kebijakan afirmatif yang memutus siklus kemiskinan dan ketidakadilan pendidikan di wilayah pesisir Jawa Tengah secara mendalam, sekaligus turut memperkaya literatur ilmiah sosiologi pendidikan tentang reproduksi ketidakadilan di wilayah marginal secara komprehensif dan berkelanjutan.