Navigating Centralised Regulation and Local Autonomy in Madrasah Governance: A Systematic Literature Review

Hasniah; Ahmad Fauzi; Much. Eka Mahmud

doi:10.61987/jemr.v5i5.3251

Authors

Hasniah Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Aji Muhammad Idris Samarinda, Indonesia
Ahmad Fauzi Universitas Islam Zainul Hasan Genggong Probolinggo, Indonesia
Much. Eka Mahmud Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Aji Muhammad Idris Samarinda, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61987/jemr.v5i5.3251

Keywords:

Educational Management, Madrasah Governance, Street-Level Bureaucracy, School Autonomy, Decoupling

Abstract

This study aims to explain how madrasah actors interpret and enact centralised regulations, which constraints they face, and how they balance compliance with local autonomy. Madrasahs are governed through a vertical ministerial hierarchy, yet recent reforms require each institution to plan, budget, and design its curriculum autonomously; little research has examined this tension systematically. The study used a systematic literature review following the PRISMA 2020 guideline. Peer-reviewed articles published between 2021 and 2026 in Scopus-indexed and SINTA 1–2 accredited journals were identified, screened against explicit criteria, and 24 studies were synthesised thematically using implementation and institutional theory. Five themes emerged: a dual regulatory architecture that grants equivalence but retains central control; bounded autonomy, in which curriculum latitude coexists with tightly templated planning and budgeting; thin supervision that drifts from development toward inspection; dual accountability to the state and private foundations; and adaptive strategies of compliance, adaptation, and decoupling. The study proposes a model of negotiated autonomy, in which actors combine formal compliance, selective adaptation, and protective decoupling. The findings imply that policymakers should consolidate reporting platforms, rebuild developmental supervision, and differentiate support according to foundation capacity so that autonomy can be exercised rather than merely granted.

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