The government is urged to make fundamental changes to [the regulation to] enhance the profession of lecturers.
By
ESTER LINCE NAPITUPULU
·3 minutes read
DOKUMENTASI UIN SUSKA
Hundreds of lecturers and education staff (Tendik) with non-civil servant (PNS) status at the Sultan Syarif Kasim State Islamic University (UIN Suska) Riau in Pekanbaru, Monday (17/4/2023), demanded justice to be able to become ASN lecturers for Government Employees with the Employment Agreement.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Career regulations for lecturers in Indonesia are considered insufficient in supporting academics to advance the nation through knowledge development. The dream of Indonesian academics receiving the Nobel Prize, the highest recognition for scientists, is becoming increasingly more unattainable, and there is a threat of a loss of academics due to their decision to settle abroad.
The Indonesian Young Scientists Academy (Almi) secretary-general Herlambang Perdana Wiratraman, stated that Almi had formed a team to formulate legal opinions regarding the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministerial Regulation (Permenpan and RB) No. 1 of 2023 concerning functional positions, which govern the profession of civil servant lecturers.
The government is urged to make fundamental changes to [the regulation to] enhance the profession of lecturers. "We hope that the formulation of regulations allows meaningful participation by involving lecturers. Criticisms of the regulation on the functional positions for lecturers present an opportunity to improve the situation," said Herlambang on Thursday (18/05/23), in Jakarta.
In a webinar on Tuesday (16/05/23), Fachrizal Afandi, a member of Almi and lecturer at the Law School, Brawijaya University, criticized the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry over the changes to the functional positions for civil servant lecturers.
The government's aspiration to encourage scientists from higher education institutions in Indonesia to achieve the Nobel Prize and promote the internationalization of universities is not aligned with the existing regulations and infrastructure. "The calculation of lecturers' credit points is always tied to state regulations," said Fachrizal.
DOKUMENTASI CHANGE.ORG
Screenshot of the Indonesian lecturers' petition on the www.change.org page. Indonesian lecturers are described as super lecturers with lots of administrative burdens but have not focused on improving quality and welfare.
Fachrizal further commented that if Regulation No. 1/2023 was referred to as an omnibus law because 239 functional positions are eliminated, it was inappropriate. The new regulations for lecturers do not adhere to the National Education System Law, the Teacher and Lecturer Law or the Higher Education Law. "This chaos is caused by the confusion in the new regulations. Lecturers have a different function compared to other civil servants," he said.
Lecturers emphasize that the career path that does not allow for skipping positions, so it would take more than 18 years in the profession to become a professor. In the previous regulation, it was possible to skip positions and reach the position of professor after a minimum of 10 years as a lecturer.
According to Rimawan Pradiptyo, a lecturer at the Economics and Business School, Gadjah Mada University, the trend in universities worldwide was to delegate the evaluation of the performance and promotion of lecturers to internal institutions. Therefore, there was a need for a paradigm shift in evaluating the performance of lecturers in Indonesian universities. "Remuneration for lecturers also needs improvement as it is far below that of other institutions," he added.
Kanti Pertiwi, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, explained that the results of a survey of 1,200 lecturers showed that 43 percent of them earn less than Rp 3 million (US$201) per month. "The well-being of lecturers is difficult due to the lack of a research culture. After the [new regulation], the well-being and career prospects of lecturers have become increasingly uncertain," she said.
Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim stated in a press release last week that his ministry and the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry were currently finalizing the technical regulations for the Administrative and Bureaucrative Reform Ministerial Regulation No. 1/2023, and that they would accommodate the aspirations of academics.
This article was translated by Tenggara Strategics.
