The government has announced that it will give contracted teachers the opportunity to attain civil servant status. However, they will have to undergo a strict selection process that ensures the quality of civil servants.
Category-2 contracted workers, registered at the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry, will be given the chance to take part in the selection process to become civil servants. Those failing to pass the selection will be given the chance to become contract-based government employees (PPPK), eligible to receive a similar monthly salary to civil servants but without the pension benefits.
The 157,210 teachers currently in category-2 will be given this opportunity. The government has said that the civil servant selection process will be completed in December this year at the latest. Of the 157,210 teachers, 12,883 will be prioritized as they have been deemed to fulfill the requirements to become civil servants, which includes being under 35 years old and having at least a bachelor’s or diploma degree. The rest can take part in the PPPK test.
Many believe that the actual number of contracted teachers nationwide is much larger than this. Many have devoted their lives to teaching, while their remuneration may not even reach minimum wage. It is understandable that many of them have often demanded to be appointed as civil servants. However, on the other hand, there is also a need to improve the quality of the country’s civil servants amid tighter global competition.
It needs to be acknowledged that there have been no clear rules or mechanism put in place for the recruitment of contracted teachers. It often begins with schools feeling that their demands for more teachers are unheard by the government. Eventually, the schools are forced to appoint contracted teachers without clear standards. This goes on for years, leading to an overwhelming number of contracted teachers nationwide. Several studies have estimated the number to be beyond 600,000.
Consequently, many schools use the government-disbursed school operational fund (BOS) to provide paltry payments for these contracted teachers. The government finally issued Education and Culture Ministerial Regulation No. 26/2017, which stipulates that state schools can only use up to 15 percent of the BOS fund to pay contracted teachers. For private schools, the limit is 50 percent. Contracted teachers are also required to have at least a bachelor’s or diploma degree.
We need to immediately resolve this problem, which includes the excessive amount of teacher training colleges (LPTK) nationwide. Not just anyone can become a teacher, as teachers hold an important position in preparing our children for the nation’s future.
People need to pass a strict selection process in order to become teachers. Only the best of the best, those with high academic achievements, great talents and skills and psychological maturity, can be teachers. This is because teachers are required to encourage students not only to achieve academically but also to strive for nobility, be relentlessly curious, have a strong learning spirit and be responsible for their actions.