The Inhibiting Factors of 2013 Curriculum Implementation in Vocational High Schools (Case Study of Public and Private Vocational High Schools, Surakarta, Indonesia) Surya Jatmika Accounting Education Department Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta Surakarta, Indonesia sj795@ums.ac.id Esti Pramita Accounting Education Department Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta Surakarta, Indonesia estipramita02@yahoo.co.id Lia Setyawati Accounting Education Department Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta Surakarta, Indonesia liasetya310@gmail.com Sabar Narimo Accounting Education Department Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta Surakarta, Indonesia sn124@ums.ac.id Abstract—Based on several previous studies that examined the 2013 curriculum implementation in vocational high schools in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, most of them solely focused on its implementation in public schools but not on the inhibiting factors for its implementation in private schools. The purpose of this study is to find out the inhibiting factors for the 2013 curriculum implementation in both public and private vocational high schools in Surakarta and propose solutions. This research is a case study with a qualitative approach. The subject consisted of six deputy principals in the curriculum department. The data collection technique is interview techniques and literature review. Qualitative data analysis techniques involve the process of data reduction, data analysis, and conclusions. The results of this study reveal the internal inhibiting factors related to the lack of infrastructure, teacher’s knowledge; the habit of students; the structure of the school bureaucracy; principals; the cost of curriculum development. Meanwhile, the external inhibiting factors include the revision of curriculum by the government, non-systematic learning material; curriculum synchronization with the “special” curriculum in private schools; the change in teaching hour; and community participation in curriculum development. This research presents solutions to overcome the factors that inhibit the implementation of the 2013 curriculum in public and private vocational schools in Surakarta are divided into two, namely: solutions to overcome internal inhibiting factors and solutions to overcome external inhibiting factors. Keywords: inhibiting factors, the 2013 curriculum, vocational high school, solutions I. INTRODUCTION Curriculum and learning process plays an important role in the implementation of education; they are interrelated components in this field. Curriculum relates to the materials conveyed by teachers and acquired by students. Meanwhile, the learning process emphasizes more on methods or techniques used to convey the curriculum overall. Currently, the national curriculum is dominated by the implementation of the 2013 curriculum or best-known as "Kurtilas or K-13". Despite its established implementation, the 2013 curriculum has undergone several revisions. The latest revision is the 2013 curriculum 2017/2018 edition in which Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 24/2016 on Core Competencies and Basic Competencies in 2013 was amended [1]. The revision is the result of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the 2013 curriculum in Indonesia, including at the level of vocational high school (SMK). The implementation of the 2013 curriculum in vocational high schools (SMK) is carried out [2]. This regulation stipulates the changes in the structure of the 2013 curriculum, including the spectrum of basic skills of the graduates in accordance with the expertise. This revision has an impact on the curriculum implemented at schools. Nevertheless, all parties should realize that this revision is an effort to anticipate the development of a more advanced society [3]. In fact, the current implementation of the 2013 curriculum at the vocational high school is perceived to be indecisive and unprepared, which is indicated by the lack of facilities and infrastructure (e.g., the provision of textbooks and modules), pros and cons of changes in teaching hours, and teacher’s unpreparedness to embody the curriculum in learning activities. Previous studies have explicated the constraints caused by several factors, namely: teacher’s insufficient understanding about the curriculum implementation (i.e., planning, learning methods, and learning evaluation), constraint from students whose schools have not implemented the 2013 curriculum, constraints from the availability of learning resources and learning time [4-11]. The 2013 curriculum has been implemented in vocational schools in Surakarta since 2014, yet on-going review and evaluation is still relevant. Several studies have been carried out from 2014—2017, and the reports have been published. Previous studies carried out by [5, 8, 10], focused on the Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 422 International Conference on Progressive Education (ICOPE 2019) Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license -http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 236