Legislators concerned over teachers' fates<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives criticized
\nyesterday the arduous official procedures that underpaid teachers
\nmust carry out for promotion.<\/p>\n
In a hearing with officials from the Civil Servant
\nAdministration Agency, house members also expressed their concern
\nover uneven distribution of teachers in various areas across the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
They pointed out that the burdensome procedures which need to
\nbe carried out to obtain credit points have too often delayed
\nteachers' promotion.<\/p>\n
\"Many teachers, especially those serving in remote parts of
\nthe country, are not aware of the procedures which enable them to
\ngain credit points for promotion,\" Umroh Machfudhoh said, a
\nlegislator from the house's Commission IX, which oversees
\neducational and cultural affairs.<\/p>\n
Umroh said government agencies should provide supervision and
\ninformation about the credit system so teachers could benefit
\nfrom it.<\/p>\n
House member Ida Bagus Gunadha said that the promotion of
\nteachers was especially difficult because it was only \"brisk\"
\nteachers, who found their way around to seminars and courses, who
\nwere apt at gaining credit points.<\/p>\n
These teachers, he pointed out, were not necessarily the hard-
\nworking types which diligently teach in the classroom.<\/p>\n
\"On the other hand, the low profile teachers who spend their
\ntime teaching in the classroom never get a chance to attend such
\nevents and therefore seldom get credit points,\" Gunadha said.<\/p>\n
He found that in several cases, seminars were held to even out
\nthe number of teachers gaining credit points.<\/p>\n
Head of the agency Soenarko said that between April, 1984 and
\nOctober, 1989, the promotion of civil servant teachers to a
\nhigher echelon was done automatically every four years.<\/p>\n
However, since April 1990, a decree from the state ministry of
\nadministrative reforms stipulated that promotions could only be
\ngranted if a civil servant was able to obtain a certain number of
\ncredit points.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, legislators also lamented on the uneven
\ndistribution of teachers across the country. They questioned the
\ntransferring teachers from a teaching job to an administrative
\none.<\/p>\n
\"According to official reports, number wise, Indonesia has
\nenough teachers. However, it must be admitted that in practice,
\nthey are not well-distributed,\" Soenarko said.<\/p>\n
He said that the uneven distribution of teachers was due
\nmainly to the fact that there are teachers who do not teach but
\nhold administrative jobs instead. Teachers may also seem to be
\nlacking, he said, because of their unexpected movements, such as
\nwhen a female teacher has to move from one town to where her
\nspouse works.<\/p>\n
Soenarko pointed out that assessing these problems and doing
\nevaluations were not the responsibility of the agency but of the
\nministry or local government. (pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legislators-concerned-over-teachers-fates-1447893297",
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