Teachers’ Capacity Determines Human Resources Quality

KOMPAS/WILIBRORDUS MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Students wash their teachers’ feet on Monday (25/11/2019) at of SMP Pius junior high school in Cilacap, Central Java. The teachers and students took turns washing each other’s feet as a symbol of humility and mutual respect to mark National Teachers’ Day.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Teachers’ capacity determines the fulfilling of the human resources development target. Therefore, improving teachers\' qualification through pre-service and in-service professional training is a priority for the government.

In his National Teachers’ Day commemoration speech in Jakarta on Monday (25/11/2019), Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim asked teachers to take the first steps in implementing changes in education.

Education observer Doni Kusuma said that teachers, instead of the government, would have to initiate these changes. Government-initiated changes are often incapable of changing teachers’ teaching styles. “If all teachers prioritize creativity in classrooms, they will advance the nation’s intelligence,” he said.

In line with the 2020-2024 National Mid-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), the government targets improvements in character, literacy, science and technology education. Intervention on teachers is required through revitalizing education institutions for education manpower, fulfilling teachers’ academic qualifications of at least S-1 (bachelor’s degree) or D-4 (four-year diploma) and improving teachers’ performance.

National Development Planning Agency’s (Bappenas) higher education, science-technology and culture director Amich Alhumami said that the government would prioritize improving teachers’ qualifications through pre-service and in-service professional training.

In his inauguration speech as the Open University Alumni Association chair on Monday, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said that adaptability with the job market would be key to universities’ progress. “On various occasions, President Joko Widodo has always urged rectors to be aware of the changing environment,” he said.

As they prepare competitive graduates, the government also prepared the pre-work card for jobseekers to improve their capacity and fulfill companies’ needs. Of the 2 million prepared cards, 25 percent will be managed conventionally by the Manpower Ministry and the rest would be managed digitally.

Recipients of the pre-work card will be asked to choose from a pool of government-sponsored training. Upon completing the training and obtaining the certificate, cardholders will continue to receive a salary for three months or until they find a job.

Improving the capacity and competitiveness of university graduates through the pre-work card is among the government’s focuses in the next five years, namely in order to develop human resources as stipulated in the 2020-2024 RPJMN.

Despite human resources being listed in third place, it does not mean that it is not a government priority. “All seven [items in the RPJMN] are the government’s main agendas, including economic development,” Moeldoko said.

Debureaucratization

With respect to the Education and Culture Ministry’s plea to teachers to implement “debureaucratization” for the sake of innovations in classrooms, Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) chair Unifah Rosyidi said that “debureaucratizing” education regulations should begin with evaluations of regulations from the central government.

Such evaluation, Unifah said, would include amending Education and Culture Ministerial Regulation No. 4/2015 on teaching activity equivalency, which cites that teachers have 24 working hours a week. This includes face-to-face teaching, managing extracurricular activities and providing guidance towards students as homeroom teachers.

However, Education and Culture Ministerial Regulation No. 17/2016 on technical guidance on the distribution of professional and additional allowances for regional civil servant teachers stipulates that teachers’ 24 working hours a week only comprises face-to-face teaching. (DNE/FRD)