THE ALIGNMENT AND MISALIGNMENT OF THE ISLAMIC ECONOMICS CURRICULUM WITH THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT POLICY

The purpose of this paper is to explore the equivalency of curriculum content of universities. It examines how this equivalency can benefit the universities that offer Islamic economics programs in implementing the new policy of the Indonesian Education and Culture Minister, especially for point No. 4, known as "Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka" (Independent learning policy or Liberating policy). This study also evaluates whether or not the guidelines on implementing Islamic economic community involvement projects developed by the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (Komite Nasional Ekonomi dan Keuangan Syariah KNEKS) and other stakeholders can support the new policy, especially for point No. 4. This study uses content analysis from the curriculum of the ten selected universities in Indonesia that participated in developing the framework on minimum standardization across Islamic economics undergraduate programs led by KNEKS. The results of the study reveal that the ten universities are ready to implement the new policy of the Indonesian Education and Culture Minister, especially for point No. 4 known as "Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka" (Independent learning policy or Liberating policy) since a significant number of course equivalents were found across the ten universities. In addition, the guidelines on the implementation of Islamic economic community involvement projects developed by KNEKS are aligned with the new policy's guidelines on community involvement projects. The paper is expected to benefit several stakeholders, such as universities that offer Islamic economics programs, by providing them with guidelines on implementing the new policy. The student can use this study as a reference for them in conducting community involvement projects, internships, and student exchange programs.


INTRODUCTION
Islamic economy has become a global phenomenon in the last decade. According to the State of Global Islamic Economy Indicators (GIEI), the size of the global Islamic economy reached USD 2.2 Trillion in 2018, and it is estimated to reach USD 3.2 Trillion by 2024 (Dinar Standard and Salam Gateway, 2020). Despite the remarkable figure, the global Islamic economy is still facing many challenges that must be overcome in order to sustain its growth. One of the challenges is an insufficient number of qualified human resources (Hidayat, 2015a). Actually, many countries worldwide have established Islamic economics and finance programs across their higher learning institutions. According to the latest Islamic Finance Development Indicators (IFDI), there are 972 Islamic economics and finance education providers worldwide, with 379 of them being degree providers. Indonesia, Malaysia, and the UK are the top three countries by number of Islamic economics and finance degree providers in 2019 (ICD and Refinitiv, 2020).
However, many education providers across the globe seem still unable to solve the issue. It has been mentioned in the literature that the shortage of skilled Islamic economists and Islamic finance professionals has been becoming an issue within the global Islamic economy (Alim, 2014;Amalia, 2014;Beik, 2013;Huda et al., 2016). It is also found in several countries that there is a mismatch between the skills needed by the industry and the skills of Islamic economics and finance graduates obtained during their studies (Redha, 2014;Hidayat, 2015b;Huda et al., 2016). Therefore, education, especially its academic curriculum, needs to be reviewed and adjusted to overcome the above issue. Abdullah (2013) argued that the above mismatch is caused by the lack of collaboration, especially in curriculum development, between degree providers and industry players. In fact, this has caused low absorption of Islamic economics and finance graduates in the labor market. For example, in Indonesia, the country with the biggest number of Islamic economics and finance degree providers, the absorption rate of the graduates within the Islamic financial industry stood below 40 % (Huda et al., 2016). Meanwhile, most Islamic economics and finance programs offered by Islamic higher education also face the problem of limited budget and facilities from the government, which result in difficulty having qualified researchers and conducting scientific activities (Sa'adi, 2011).
In fact, the low absorption rate of university graduates due to skill mismatch applies in many academic programs across Indonesia. As a result, the Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia, His Excellency Mr. Nadiem Anwar Makarim, has recently launched a new directive policy call "Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka," which can be unofficially translated as "Independent Learning Policy" or "Liberating Policy" aimed to link and match between the industry's needs and the skills of higher learning institutions' graduates. The new policy also intends to create graduates that understand not only the theory in class but also how to apply it in the real-life situation by becoming problem solvers in society. There are four main points of the new policy (Kemendikbud, 2020a): 1. Autonomy for higher learning institutions with A and B accreditation from the National Accreditation Agency (BAN-PT) to open new academic programs. 2. Easing of the processes for the state-own universities to be more autonomous by becoming a legal based entity (PTN-BH) 3. New accreditation system for the academic programs. 4. Liberating students to replace three semesters of their total semesters during their undergraduate degree with several independent learning methods such as taking courses from other academic programs within their university (one semester), internship, community involvement project, student exchange program, and other forms of independent learning (max two semesters). The first document was prepared in collaboration with industry stakeholders, including ten renowned universities that offer Islamic economics undergraduate programs. MEKSI states the importance of curriculum standardization, especially for Islamic economics undergraduate programs to ensure similarities in terms of learning outcomes, courses offered, course syllabi, textbooks, and teaching methods used by universities that offer the program across Indonesia (Bappenas, 2019). The second document was prepared in collaboration with academicians from the Department of Islamic Economics, IPB University. This is the implementation of one fundamental strategy in MEKSI, which is strengthening public literacy (Bappenas, 2019). Through well-structured and guided community involvement project, the students of the Islamic economics undergraduate program are expected not only to implement the theories that they have learned in class but also to help the community in solving their problems through the implementation of Islamic economic and financial tools. The program is also expected to increase public literacy levels in the Islamic economy in general.
There are several previous studies that discussed designing the curriculum of Islamic Economics in Indonesia, such as the studies done by Kasri (2010), (Furqani, 2012), Darmadji and Andriansyah (2013), Amalia (2014), Zarkasyi et al. (2016), Suryanti, Ibrahim, & Ayumiati, (2019). However, none of the studies discuss curriculum alignment with new government policy related to higher education known as "Kebijakan Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka" or independent learning in higher education. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gaps.
Based on the above background, the study has the following objectives: The paper is expected to benefit several stakeholders, such as universities that offer Islamic economics programs, by providing them with the guidelines on how to implement the new policy. The student can use this study as a reference for them in conducting community involvement projects, internships, and student exchange programs.

The Theory of Curriculum Alignment
Education in Islamic economics is part of Islamic education where it has a paradigm that proposes an ideal image of man within the conceptual framework (Sutomo, 2014). Numerous scholars have explained the definition of Islamic economics. According to Ahmad (2001), Islamic economics is a social science that studies economic problems and man's behavior from an Islamic perspective. Mannan (1992) agreed that Islamic economic relate the economic problem with Islamic values. Etzioni (1988) added that Qur'an and Sunnah are sources use to establish Islamic law related to economics. From these various definitions, it can be concluded that Islamic economics is a study that attempts to looking, reviewing, researching, and finally solving the economic problems in Islamic ways (based on the teachings of Islam) (Buarque, 1993;Kamri, Ramlan, & Ibrahim, 2014 In line with the existence of several workshops, seminars, and conferences in Islamic Economics, some countries have established Islamic banks and nonfinancial institutions to support their economics. The development of these institutions needs more human capital to support the free riba, gharar and maysir transactions. These conditions have triggered the importance of education in the field of Islamic economics, where they turned it into a study program in some universities in the Muslim world. According to Kayed (2008), the first universities that took the lead in teaching and promoting Islamic economics were According to Bappenas (2019), the availability of skilled human resources urgently is needed in order to support the rapid development of the Islamic economy and finance sector in Indonesia to become a global hub in 2024. In addition, the number of human capitals with integrated skills also should be able to fulfill the needs of these sectors. Therefore, there should be a collaboration between industries and education sectors to generate experts and professional staff who possess a background and proper competencies both in the field of sharia and economics that might address the necessity of the industries to design as well as innovate their products.

Previous Studies on Curriculum Design of Islamic Economics
Discussing theories of curriculum design requires first the meaning of curriculum. The definition of curriculum design has been developed by many previous scholars and resulted in so many concepts. Druzhinina et al., (2018) mentioned about the meaning curriculum design from the perspective of teacher and students where they think that curriculum design is merely just a documented requirement for curriculum which is related to a specific area of knowledge. Pinar (2006) agreed that some scientists perceived curriculum design as an administrative requirement or considered as quality assurances in higher education. It contains several values and principles regarding learning, knowledge, and disciplines, as well as the cultural and political goals of higher education. However, the previous research that focus on education in Islamic economics is very limited. Zarkasyi et al. (2016) conducted a study about the curriculum design of Islamic Economics for postgraduate studies by comparing the data between universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, and Pakistan. The study found that curriculum design in most of the Islamic economics department that includes their vision, mission, and objective where epistemological aspects are clearly stated. However, not all department in this study takes the epistemological aspects into serious consideration as their vision and mission of the program of integration and Islamization.
Darmadji and Andriansyah (2013) conducted a study about the curriculum design for Islamic Economics in Indonesian in the context of the ASEAN Economic Community. The study found that the curriculum in the two departments was prepared mainly to achieve national goals in higher education standards and had not been prepared for the regional level yet. Therefore, the research suggested additional content in the courses of the curriculum to meet the need of human resources challenges in the ASEAN Economic Community context. Amalia (2014) conducted a study about the evaluation model of education in Islamic economics and finance adopted in Indonesia and the United Kingdom. The study found that the education model for undergraduate and postgraduate in Indonesia is in line with the epistemology of Islamic economics and finance as a science and discipline while the industrial need is not taken into account. On the other hand, the education model in any level of degree developed in the United Kingdom in line with the need for industries. Therefore, the problem of link and match between education and the need of industry has been experienced not only in Indonesia and United Kingdom but also in another part of the world that is undertaking Islamic economy and finance programs in their respective countries.
Another previous study has been conducted by Belabas et al. (2015), who discussed the design of Islamic finance higher educational programs. The data were taken from the Islamic Economics Institute (IEI) of King Abdulaziz University. The data were analyzed using an evaluative, analytical framework.
The study found that the concept of globalization has not been implemented in the study program where there is low compromising of the local needs. This study gave a contribution to the field of Islamic financial education from the context of GCC higher education.
From the foregoing, it can be observed that existing literature is majorly on Islamic finance and Islamic economics and finance in postgraduate studies, while education in Islamic economics has not been exposed in detail by previous researchers. The study conducted by Zarkasyi et al. (2016) and Darmadji and Andriansyah (2013) stated that the education in Islamic economics had not been prepared for the regional level, and some departments are not taking serious consideration to integrating Islamization into the study program. Siddiqi (1997) added that the present state of teaching Economics at the university level in Muslim countries tends to neglect the main objective of developing the discipline to achieve the objective of shari'ah. In addition, Kasri (2010) also added that the teaching of Islamic economics should focus on its relevance to the actual working of economics and in harmony transform the Islamic principles into Islamic economies. Therefore, there is a need to enrich the study on education in Islamic economics to support the sustainability of both education and industry practitioners.

The New Policy of Indonesian Education Minister and Culture
In a competitive and globalizing world, student competencies have to be more in line and along with the times to face the changes of social, cultural, work environment, and rapid technological advancements. In addition, link and match are not only with the industry and the workplace but also with a rapidly changing future. Therefore, higher education has to be able to design and implement innovative learning processes so that students can achieve optimally and relevantly the learning outcomes, including aspects of attitude, knowledge, and skills.
According to Kemendikbud (2020b), the aim of the new policy (Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka), the rights of three semesters learning outside the study program is to improve graduate competencies, both soft skills, and hard skills. It is also designed to prepare graduates as the nation's future leaders who are competitive and have personality. Experiential learning programs with flexible pathways are expected to be able to facilitate students to develop their potential according to their passion and talent. The higher education institutions in Indonesia are expected to develop and facilitate the implementation of the Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka program by creating academic guides. Programs that are implemented should be prepared and agreed upon between universities and partners. The independent learning program can be in the form of a national program prepared by the Ministry or the programs prepared by universities that are registered with PDDikti (Higher Education Database).
The new policy states that there are eight (8) forms of learning activities in the independent learning program are; 1) student exchange; 2) internship; 3) teaching assistance in the education unit; 4) research project; 5) humanitarian project; 6) entrepreneurial activities; 7) independent project; and 8) community involvement project. In April 2020, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia had published guidelines on the implementation of an independent learning policy. There are some forms of learning activities that can be done within the framework of learning exchange are as follows; 1) students exchange between study programs at the same university; 2) students exchange in the same study program at different university; 3) students exchange between study programs at different university. Furthermore, learning activities in this program can be carried out face to face or online. Online learning with the provisions of the courses offered must be recognized by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Apart from the student exchange program, the discussion also will focus on the community involvement project (KKNT). KKNT Program is a form of education that provides students with learning experiences to live in the community outside the campus and, together with the community, identify the potentials of villages or regions and deal with the problems. In addition, the students are expected to be able to develop the potentials of villages or regions and formulate solutions to problems they have faced. Thus, this learning activity can sharpen the soft skills of partnership, teamwork between interdisciplinary science (cross competence), and student leadership in managing the development programs in rural areas.
According to Kemendikbud (2020b), most of the universities in Indonesia have been implemented the KKNT program with small credit hours that cannot be recognized under the new policy (Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka), which required 20 to 40 credit hours or equivalent with 6 to 12 months. The KKNT program also requires students to be able to fulfill several requirements such as; 1) students have completed the learning process up to the sixth semester; 2) activities are carried out in groups, the number of people in a group depends on SHARE | Volume 10 | Number 1 | Jan -Jun 2021 village needs, and are multidisciplinary (from different study programs/faculties/clusters); 3) participants are required to stay in the community or live in the specified location; 4) participants are in good health physically or mentally and not pregnant (for women); 5) a minimum GPA of 2.00 up to the fifth semester; 6) and other provisions that the university can arrange.

RESEARCH METHOD
This study uses the qualitative method. The qualitative method through content analysis was deemed necessary for this study because it has been used by relevant previous studies (Darmadji and Andriansyah, 2013;and Zarkasyi et al., 2016). In addition, qualitative content analysis is commonly used for analyzing and interpreting qualitative data (Schreier, 2012). It is one of the research methods that depicts a systematic and objective way to describe and quantify phenomena (Downe-Wamboldt, 1992;Schreier, 2012). The data was collected from the results of content analysis of curriculum from ten prominent universities in Indonesia that were involved in developing a framework on minimum standardization across Islamic economics undergraduate programs.
The method of collecting data focused on examining the equivalency in curriculum content of ten universities in Indonesia and how this equivalency can benefit the universities that offer Islamic economics programs in implementing the new policy (Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka), particularly point No. 4. In addition, a review of the guidelines on Islamic economic community involvement projects developed by the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KNEKS) and other stakeholders were done to check whether it is suitable for the policy implementation or not. The data are observed and analyzed by researchers, and the results are presented with clear explanations.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The result of content analysis of curriculum employed in ten renowned universities in Indonesia revealed that those ten universities could implement the new policy of the Indonesian Education and Culture Minister, especially for point No. 4 known as "Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka." Table 1 summarizes the examination of equivalency in curriculum content of ten universities (refer to Appendix 1). It can be noticed that these ten universities are using different course names in their curriculum and there are at least twenty-four courses which can be interchanged among the ten universities which offer Islamic economics program.
Among them, it is found that at least eight courses are exactly the same across ten different universities, namely Introduction to Accounting,  Table 1 in the appendix evidenced that ten (10) universities can carry out Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka, particularly in the form of student exchange in their Islamic economics program. The university can refer to table 1 and determine the courses that the students can take from the Islamic economics program at other universities.
In implementing the new policy, particularly the students exchange program in the same study program at different universities, the universities and students are expected to follow the guideline on the implementation of Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka. The mechanism to implement this program is deliberated in the guideline refer to Table 2.
The above explanation of feasibility in implementing the new policy of Merdeka Belajar, particularly about the student exchange program, has been contradicted with a previous study conducted by Amalia (2014) where it is found that the current curriculum has not yet incorporated industrial needs in which student exchange program as part of experiential learning programs SHARE | Volume 10 | Number 1 | Jan -Jun 2021 facilitates students to develop their potential according to their passion and talent. • Develop or adjust a curriculum that facilitates students to take courses in the same study program at other universities. • Making agreements with partner universities including learning processes, semester credit recognition and assessment, and financing schemes. • Cooperation can be done in the form of bilateral, consortium (study program associations), clusters (based on accreditation), or zoning (by region). • Set the quota of participants who take courses offered in the form of learning in the same study program at other universities. • Set the number of courses that can be taken from the same study program at other universities. • Report activities to the Higher Education Database (PDDikti). Students • Obtain approval from Academic Supervisors.
• Participate in activities in the same study program at other universities in accordance with the academic guidelines set by university. • Registered as a course participant in the same study program at another university. Source: Kemendikbud (2020b) In addition, the result also contradicted with studies done by Belabas et al. (2015), where the exchange student program in the current curriculum has not yet incorporated the concept of globalization. Furthermore, this study also assesses whether the guidelines on the implementation of Islamic economic community involvement projects developed by the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KNEKS) and other stakeholders can support the new policy or not. Students are able to utilize the science, technology, and skills they have in their preferred field. 5 Students have high concern and commitment, are skilled at communicating, and collaborate in efforts to overcome economic and social problems that exist in society. 6 Students are able to collaborate and develop networks with stakeholders in solving community problems, especially economic and social problems. 7 Students have a sense of care and empathy for the conditions faced by the community.
The result indicated that there are similarities between the guidelines on the implementation of Islamic economic community involvement projects developed by the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KNEKS) and the guideline on the implementation of Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka, particularly on community involvement project (KKNT). This result supports a previous study conducted by Kasri (2010) where the community involvement project (KKNT) as part of experiential learning programs aims to enrich the sustainability of Islamic Economics education and industry needs. The resemblances of those guidelines can be seen from the objectives of KKNT illustrated in the guidelines and the program of KKNT in both guidelines, as display in Tables 3 and 4. Programs that produce a real impact at the end of the activity (e.g., more adequate village irrigation, village cooperatives generate more profits) 6 Waqf management strengthening program (eg. assistance in waqf asset management, and product diversification)

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The findings of this paper show that ten universities that offer Islamic economics undergraduate programs are ready to implement the new policy of Merdeka Belajar: Kampus Merdeka, particularly student exchange program in the same study program at different universities. This is reflected in the discovery of as many as twenty-four courses that have equivalency across ten universities. In order to move a step further in implementing student exchange programs, it is important for these universities to establish partnerships, particularly on the implementation of credit transfer, monitoring, assessment, and evaluation of the program. The learning process in the implementation of the student exchange program is also important to be highlighted. The learning activities not only can be conducted face to face but also online learning.
This study suggested that the universities in Indonesia that offer Islamic economics undergraduate programs adopt the framework on minimum standardization across Islamic economics undergraduate programs developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders, including ten renowned universities and KNEKS. This framework will guide the universities to develop and adjust their curriculum that enables students to take courses in the same Islamic economics program at other universities.
Furthermore, the findings also reveal that there are similarities in the guideline on the implementation of Islamic economic community involvement projects developed by KNEKS with the new policy's guidelines on community involvement projects, especially in terms of its objectives as well as programs.
Thus, this paper also recommends that the universities which offer Islamic economics program in Indonesia to adopt the guideline on the implementation of Islamic economic community involvement projects as a complementary guideline in implementing the new policy introduced by Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.
There are some limitations of this study, mainly using data of curriculum from ten renowned universities while there are about 858 academic programs related to Islamic Economics in Indonesia (PD Dikti, 2021