The teachers’ certification allowance, which is equal to one month’s salary and is paid periodically, has encouraged more high school and vocational school graduates to become teachers.
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Kompas/Riza Fathoni
Ar-Rahmaniyah Teaching and Education University students attend class at their campus in Citayam, Depok, West Java, on Tuesday (13/3).
The teachers’ certification allowance, which is equal to one month’s salary and is paid periodically, has encouraged more high school and vocational school graduates to become teachers.
Schools of Teaching and Education Science (FKIP) in 28 state universities are becoming favorites among prospective university students, much like schools of engineering and medicine. Many prospective students who register at universities cannot be accommodated because of limited capacity.
This abundance of unaccommodated prospective students can be a new opportunity for the education business. Furthermore, Law No. 14/2005 requires all teachers to have at least an undergraduate degree.
Educational Institutes of Teachers (LPTK) have flourished across many regions as a result. In 2004, there were only 90 LPTKs, including 12 former Teaching and Education Science Institutes (IKIP) and 28 FKIP in state universities. The number of LPTK grew to 374 in 2012 and then to 421 in 2016.
This increase in the number of teaching institutions should be responded to positively as it helps advance the intelligence of the nation’s children. However, a poor selection process in issuing licenses as well as lack of education infrastructure and low quality of lecturers could be unwanted side effects for the national education system.
This is reflected in the fact that only 18 LPTKs have “A” accreditation and 81 have “B” accreditation. Of the 5,716 study programs in LPTKs nationwide, only 209 have “A” accreditation and 811 have “B” accreditation.
The relative ease of obtaining the license to establish an LPTK has also led to an overabundance of prospective teachers compared to national demand. Currently, there are 1.2 million LPTK students and more than 254,000 education science graduates waiting for jobs. This is despite the estimated national demand for teachers at all educational levels up to 2024 being just 126,000.
Based on these conditions, it is high time to fix LPTKs. The first step must involve a moratorium on license issuance for new LPTKs. This moratorium must be concurrent with a thorough evaluation of existing LPTKs, both in terms of infrastructure and teachers. The government must not hesitate to shut down LPTKs that do not fulfill the minimum standards.
Apart from an institutional evaluation, an evaluation of existing study programs is also necessary. The government must be able to map national demand for teachers in the next 10, 20 or even 30 years. Study programs with too many graduates may be closed to prevent an overabundance of jobless education science graduates. On the other hand, enrollment opportunities for study programs with low numbers of graduates, such as vocational teacher training, must be made wide open.
Serious fixes of LPTKs nationwide are necessary. LPTK students must not only seek titles. They must also have a yearning to become teachers. Teaching is a highly-respected job that determines a nation’s future. Consequently, prospective teachers must undergo a tight selection process, different from other professions.
