Jakarta  (Kompas: (21/08/07)  Many teachers think the government is not ready to carry out teachers’ certification which will commence soon. Some teachers who had been selected to join the assesement also complained that they were not given enough time to gather the entire documents needed for portfolio assessment..Their concerns were raised in a discussion on teachers certification held by the Indonesian Corruption Watch’s (ICW) Education Department in Jakarta, on Monday (20/8).

The meeting was attended by teachers from Jakarta and its surrounding areas, Rector of Jakarta State University (UNJ) Bedjo Suyanto, as well as Lodi Paat and Jimmy Paat from the Education Coalition.
Agus Supriyadi, a teacher at State elementary school SDN 01 Merak, Balaraja, Tangerang, said he just learned a few days ago that he would join teachers’ certification assessment. “We were invited by education agency, and we were told about the certification, and we were given numbers. However, we were only given five days to prepare all the documents required for the portfolio assessment," he said. He expressed concern over such a short period of time, because it might take quite a long time to prepare some documents. He gave an example about the difficulties to find a document proving that a teacher has been guiding a student with outstanding achievement. To get the required document teachers should try top find the students who are already graduated from school. It gives teachers 5 points.

Tety Sulastry, a teacher from State senior high school SMAN 24 Jakarta shares the same opinion. Teachers from her schools who have been selected to join the certification process were only given three days to prepare their portfolio. She was also questioning about the criteria for the selection of teachers to join the certification. During the discussion, many teachers express pessimism that they would be able to pass the certification. The teachers also do not now about the fate of those who failed in the certification test.

Jakarta State University (UNJ) Rector Bedjo Suyanto estimated that only 50% of teachers will pass the test. He pointed out that teachers’ qualities are quite varied. Moreover only a few teachers are really willing to do some efforts to improve their quality. "Only a few teachers are actively participated in discussions and publish their works. Therefore, many teachers will have difficulties to show the documents proving their achievements," Bedjo Suyanto asserted.

According to Lodi Paat, teachers’ certification is not carried orderly. “There’s not enough dissemination. There is also an impression of unpreparedness. So far, Teachers Training Institutes (LPTK) are still unaware abut the six-day training program that they should carry out. Transparency is necessary to avoid any disagreement in the future," he asserted.  “If the goal is improving teachers’ welfare, certification is unnecessary,” he said.