Functional Misalignment of Secondary Education Authority in Indonesia’s 3t (Frontier, Outermost, and Underdeveloped) Archipelagic Regions: A Legal and Governance Analysis of the Tanimbar Islands Regency

Background Law Number 23 of 2014 on Regional Government transferred the management of secondary education from district/city governments to provincial governments to standardize services and improve administrative efficiency. In frontier, outermost, and underdeveloped (3T) archipelagic regions, however, the transfer has weakened institutional responsiveness, lengthened administrative chains, and widened educational inequalities. This study examines the governance bottlenecks that arise from provincial management of secondary education in these regions, focusing on the Tanimbar Islands Regency, and proposes an adaptive governance framework for educational decentralization. Methods This normative legal study used statutory, conceptual, and analytical approaches to examine how Law Number 23 of 2014 divides authority over secondary education and how that division operates in practice in the Tanimbar Islands Regency. The analysis was complemented by a review of Constitutional Court Decisions No. 30/PUU-XIV/2016 and No. 31/PUU-XIV/2016 and a descriptive analysis of official sub-district education statistics (BPS Tanimbar Islands Regency, 2026). Results The statute attributes authority clearly, so there is no normative conflict. The problem is a functional mismatch between the provincial government, which holds formal authority, and the district government, which is closest to the schools. In archipelagic 3T areas, this mismatch widens the span of control and lengthens the administrative chain for school facility management. It coincides with a concentration of vocational schools and teachers in the regency capital and with a declining senior secondary net enrollment rate (from 62.44% to 52.80%, against 94.90% at the elementary level), although these descriptive data do not establish causality. Conclusions An asymmetric approach to educational decentralization, through shared authority mechanisms, archipelagic education units, or legislative amendments that return management to local governments, can align formal legal authority with local responsiveness while fulfilling the constitutional mandate on education.