Education for Sustainable Development in Indonesian Primary Schools

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has emerged as a crucial global agenda to address increasingly complex environmental, social, and economic challenges. In Indonesia, the implementation of ESD at the elementary school level plays a fundamental role since primary education serves as the foundation for character formation, knowledge acquisition, and the development of sustainability awareness from an early age. However, its practical application still encounters serious obstacles, including limited infrastructure, insufficient teacher training, suboptimal curriculum integration, and inadequate funding. Sharp disparities also persist between urban and rural areas, where the quality of resources and access to technology remain uneven. This article employs a library research method to examine recent literature on the challenges and implications of ESD in Indonesian elementary schools. The findings reveal that ESD implementation has the potential to enhance critical thinking skills, sustainability literacy, and environmentally responsible character. Nevertheless, it requires strong policy support, continuous teacher capacity development, and equitable distribution of educational infrastructure to achieve effective outcomes.