440,000 Temporary Teachers’ Fate Uncertain

Kompas. The appointing of teachers that is uncontrolled and unplanned to meet concrete needs causes around 440,000 temporary teachers’ fate become uncertain. The government will discuss the mapping of teacher need on the national level so that schools are prohibited to appoint temporary teachers.

Giri Suryatmana, General Secretary of Quality Development of Teachers and Educators said on Tuesday  (11/18) in Jakarta that the fate of hundreds of thousands of temporary teachers who are appointed at public and private schools depends on the kabupaten and city government. When education enters local autonomy, the hiring of public servants become the responsibility and authority of the kabupaten/kota government.

"So far, new teacher recruitment is uncontrolled. Education units or schools freely hire temporary teachers. In fact, we are not in need of teachers on a national scale,” says Giri.

Apart from the chaos in teacher recruitment, he says, the spreading of teachers is also a problem. This results in the fact that many teachers are piled up in cities, whereas in villages, mostly in remote areas, teachers are scarce.

Based on the research of the World Bank, the ratio of teachers and students in Indonesia is categorized better than neighboring countries. For elementary level, the ration of teacher and student is 1:20, SMP 1:17, and SMA/SMK 1:14. "However, the distribution of teachers is not equal and not according to lesson study. Therefore, the quality of education is left behind compared to other countries,” says Giri.

Commenting on the fate of school temporary teachers, at the moment, says Giri, the kabupaten/kota government must prioritize their appointment as local public servants. Especially, the demand for teachers in the future to replace pensioned ones, mostly at  SD inpres, is pressing.

Sulistiyo, Chief of Pengurus Besar Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia (PGRI) supports the reorganizing and redistribution of teachers in each area. In the case of teacher placement in local areas, local government and central government are asked to give support so that many of them are willing to be placed in local areas.