<![CDATA[The implementation of Indonesia’s Merdeka Curriculum requires schools to translate curricular flexibility into context-responsive teaching, assessment, and institutional support. This study evaluates the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum in Islamic Religious Education (PAI) at a pesantren-based junior high school in Lempuing Jaya, South Sumatra, Indonesia, using the Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) evaluation model. An evaluative qualitative case-study design was employed. Data were generated through participatory classroom and project observations, semi-structured interviews with school and curriculum leaders, PAI teachers, a supervising inspector, and students, and analysis of curriculum and assessment documents. Data were analyzed using an interactive qualitative analysis procedure involving condensation, display, and conclusion drawing, with source and method triangulation used to strengthen credibility. The findings reveal a marked implementation asymmetry. Contextually, the school’s religious ecology and institutional mission strongly support PAI and character development, but the school’s operational curriculum documents remain insufficiently contextualized. At the input level, digital infrastructure and learning resources are relatively strong, whereas teacher pedagogical readiness, diagnostic-assessment documentation, project guidance, and operational quality-assurance mechanisms remain limited. At the process level, teachers have adapted learning through digital tools, block scheduling, and contextual problem-based activities, but differentiated instruction, formative assessment, reflective practice, and the reflective phase of the Pancasila Student Profile Strengthening Project are inconsistently implemented. Product evidence suggests promising development of students’ religious character and digital participation, but the reported 85% achievement is an institutional estimate rather than an independently measured outcome, while documentation of learning attainment, stakeholder satisfaction, and differentiated student products remains incomplete. The study argues that the principal implementation challenge is not infrastructure but the alignment of teacher capability, assessment evidence, curriculum governance, and reflective improvement. A staged improvement strategy is proposed through peer coaching, contextualization of the school operational curriculum, diagnostic assessment capacity building, integration between school and boarding-school programs, and stronger evidence-based quality assurance.]]>
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