Indonesia has three teacher issues that must be fixed immediately: quantity, quality and welfare. The three issues are interconnected. None is more important than the other; they must all be addressed immediately and comprehensively.
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Indonesia has three teacher issues that must be fixed immediately: quantity, quality and welfare.
The three issues are interconnected. None is more important than the other; they must all be addressed immediately and comprehensively. Regarding the quantity of teachers, for instance, Indonesia’s 3.1 million teachers is more than enough to fulfill the teacher-to-student ratio international standard. However, unequal distribution remains a huge problem.
Teacher shortages are found mostly at elementary schools in more than 300 regencies and cities nationwide, most of which are under the terdepan, terluar dan tertinggal (frontier, remote and underdeveloped) category. At the high school level, around 177 regencies and cities are experiencing a teacher shortage but, on the other hand, a teacher surplus exists in more than 300 regencies and cities.
The issue is, why is teacher shortage still a problem? Among the reasons is that previous administrations never calculated the number of teachers available nationwide at every education level. Moreover, no assessments have ever been made on the immediate and future needs for teaching qualifications.
Decentralizing education has also contributed to the imbalance in teacher distribution. Teachers cannot be transferred to other regencies or cities due to regional autonomy regulations.
Apart from quantity, the quality of teachers also remains a problem. Many teachers in the country do not have an undergraduate degree, which is required under Law No. 14/2005 on teachers and lecturers. Those with undergraduate degrees rarely participate in regular trainings to increase their capacity.
The 2015 teacher competency test yielded a national average score of 56.69. Elementary school teachers had the lowest average score of 54.33, while high school teachers had the highest average score of 61.74. The test scores did not change much in subsequent years.
In order to improve teacher quality, the government should implement a strict selection process. Only highly qualified candidates should be recruited as teachers. However, the reality is that the government often turns a blind eye to the mushrooming of teacher training institutions [LPTK] without providing clear quality standards.
Indonesia had 90 LPTK in 2014, 381 in 2015 and 429 in 2016, with a total student body of 1.2 million. Unfortunately, only 19 of these LPTKs have A accreditation and 81 have B accreditation.
The provision of the teacher professional allowance has yet to produce the intended results of improving teacher quality and welfare. In many regions, the allowance’s disbursement is often delayed and teachers rarely receive the full amount.
After years of neglecting these problems, the government must take concrete and immediate steps to resolve these three issues concerning our nation’s teachers.