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Open junior high school (SMPT) is an alternative formal education aimed at expanding educational access of primary school graduates or equivalent who experience various obstacles to continue their education to regular junior high schools. In Indonesia, SMPT was first implemented in the 1979/1980 school year. Specifically in DKI Jakarta, SMPT has been held since the 1990s, but until now efforts to expand access to this educational pathway have not been fully successful and SMPT has not been able to produce quality graduates. Problems related to access include a continued decline in the number of SMPT, a limited number of students who can be admitted, and a lack of information dissemination of the existence of SMPT and their new student admissions (PPDB). Meanwhile, problems related to the quality of education at SMPT include the impracticality of the guidebooks, weak coordination and supervision, poor quality of teachers, a limited number of and access to learning facilities, problems in learning methods, as well as poor discipline and low quality of the students.

To improve access to and quality of junior high education for students who cannot access regular junior high schools, there are two policy recommendation options for the DKI Jakarta Government, namely (i) closing SMPT and replacing them with an educational cooperation with quality private junior high schools that lack students or, if the first option cannot be implemented in the entire or part of DKI Jakarta area, (ii) maintaining and managing SMPT more seriously through improvements in various aspects so that they can meet the National Education Standard (SNP). Through these efforts, it is expected that all young citizens in DKI Jakarta can complete junior high school/equivalent and achieve quality education.