“Education is a business” : Lexical cohesion of the public opinions in response to the Indonesian Job Creation Law

Abstract

Lexical choices in a law text contribute to the creation of discourse. The issuance of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation Law in Indonesia has resulted in a controversial public discussion concerning questionable educational practices in Indonesia. This study attempted to investigate the accumulated ideas that depict a represented discourse by exploring cohesive devices used in public interpretation regarding the impacts of the inclusion of Article 65 on education policy and practices according to the Job Creation Law. The data were garnered online from public figures’ opinions shared in the Academic Association, Legal Aid Agency, Taman Siswa Family’s Association, Indonesian Teacher Union, Ma’arif Nahdlatul Ulama, and Education Observer Group. The collected interpretation was analyzed by identifying how lexical features were used in the interpretation to construct ideas. The analysis indicates that the public figures' interpretation shared a common conception that the Job Creation Law intended to construct. The law signals the idea of administering education as a business, potentially affecting the uncontrolled establishments of associations and foundations that administer education in Indonesia. The public interpretation suggests that the Job Creation Law put aside the term “service”  that the government should facilitate in the administration of education.