... While teachers say the problems go much deeper<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The fact that there is little hope for a better
\neducated generation as long as teachers are severely underpaid
\nand lack proper training resurfaces every time there is a change
\nin the education system.<\/p>\n
Tunggul Siagian, manager of the private PSKD Christian school
\ngroup, stressed that the bottom line to any change of curriculum
\nis \"whether it is a help or burden to teachers.\"<\/p>\n
\"A change in curriculum has nothing to do with improved
\nquality of education,\" he added. In a milder tone, the Director
\nGeneral of Basic and Intermediary Education, Zainal Arifin
\nAchmady, acknowledged that \"a program only has significance when
\na teacher gives it meaning.\"<\/p>\n
The unwillingness of the government and the public to take
\nresponsibility and invest more in education, especially in public
\nschools, is the main reason for the current condition of
\neducation Tunggul said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has the lowest expenditure on education in Southeast
\nAsia. However, the current Five Year National Development Plan,
\nwhich started in April, has allotted an annual amount of Rp 4.06
\ntrillion to education which is 37.9 percent higher than the
\nprevious Five-year plan.<\/p>\n
Illustrating the lack of responsibility for public education,
\nTunggul lashed out at \"too expensive\" private schools like the
\nPelita Harapan school in Tangerang, which employs foreign
\nteachers. Such schools, he says, are \"a tool of stratification\"
\namong rich and poor families.<\/p>\n
Even Indonesia's middle class, he noted, cannot achieve the
\nkind of education they desire because it is too expensive.<\/p>\n
Expensive private schools, Tunggul said, weakens the old
\nbelief that \"schools are a tool of national unity, that they do
\nnot seek profit and do not refuse students because of their
\nfinancial circumstances.\"<\/p>\n
At least criticism of the quality of teachers has encouraged a
\nnew policy from the Ministry of Education and Culture. They have
\nruled that elementary school teachers should not be taught by
\ngraduates of the senior teaching schools (SPG), which are on par
\nto senior high schools.<\/p>\n
Those who finished in 1989 will be the last generation of SPG
\ngraduates. State and private teaching college (IKIP) diploma
\ngraduates will take their place in the future and hopefully fill
\nthe need for at least 30,000 teachers in remote areas.<\/p>\n
But officials have found this almost impossible.<\/p>\n
Moerdjito, the head of the curriculum section under the
\nDirector of Basic Education, believes the Ministry's practice of
\nrecruiting teachers from their own areas has proved more reliable
\nthan the diploma graduates.<\/p>\n
\"Although he or she may be less trained, a teacher from
\nTrenggalek, Central Java, for instance, will not be reluctant to
\nbe sent to teach in the coastal area not too far from the
\nteacher's native home.\"<\/p>\n
On the other hand one cannot expect, Moerdjito continued, that
\nan IKIP graduate from the town of Blitar, Central Java, who has
\ninvested at least Rp 1 million in the diploma program, will be
\nwilling to be sent to a remote area where he will earn the novice
\ncivil servant salary.<\/p>\n
Ido Suprayudi, another teacher from Sukabumi, says given the
\nnew policy on IKIP graduates, the remaining 1989 graduates of the
\nteaching high schools have not been appointed as civil servants
\nand therefore are still on a contract payment basis.<\/p>\n
Suwawan, a third grade teacher in Tangerang, is one of these
\nteachers.<\/p>\n
\"I'm confused, as of this year the Ministry is only scheduled
\nto appoint graduates from 1986, so I may still have to wait
\nanother three years,\" he said while working on a housing project
\nduring the semester vacation.<\/p>\n
In anticipation of the higher quality required of teachers,
\nSuwawan has enrolled in night courses at the private Muhammadiyah
\nIKIP teaching school for a diploma in teaching religion.<\/p>\n
He and his wife have opted to postpone having a child until he
\ncompletes the Rp 800,000 course.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think I can really support a family yet,\" he
\nlamented, citing his monthly income of under Rp 100,000 from
\nteaching at two schools.<\/p>\n
Asked why he did not take the diploma program required by the
\ngovernment, he answered that he could only afford to take night
\nclasses.<\/p>\n
\"The diploma program at the college is only in the daytime, so
\nI wouldn't be able to seek additional income,\" Suwawan said.<\/p>\n
He is lucky to be able to set aside money for further study
\nunlike some older teachers with families.<\/p>\n
To save the daily transportation cost of Rp 3,000, a teacher
\nfrom Cireunghas, Sukabumi, who requested anonymity walks the ten
\nkilometers to and from school. He also said his children are
\ngoing to new schools this semester for which there are no
\nallowances.<\/p>\n
Teachers in remote areas also cannot expect any pay for
\nprivate lessons, he added.<\/p>\n
Heroes<\/p>\n
A headmaster in Ambon stressed that although teachers on the
\ngovernment's payroll fare better because of their steady income,
\nthey don't receive a living allowance, making life harder for
\nteachers in expensive areas.<\/p>\n
\"For a simple family meal you need Rp 10,000 in Ambon, twice
\nthe cost in Jakarta,\" Izaak Angloarmase said during a break at
\nthe Congress of the Indonesian Teacher's Association held here
\nearlier this month.<\/p>\n
It is \"bloody nonsense,\" Tunggul blurts out in English, \"that
\nIndonesian teachers are considered sacred and praised as heroes
\nfor their willingness to sacrifice themselves.\"<\/p>\n
Teaching, he added, must be treated like any other profession
\nand paid accordingly, \"so that the public can rightfully demand
\nvalue for their money.\"<\/p>\n
He pointed out that the amount of poor quality teachers is due
\nto the fact that those who enter the profession do so \"because
\nthere is nothing else to do...teaching loses out in the
\ncompetition with other professions.\"<\/p>\n
In the past 15 years, he observes, teaching has increasingly
\nbecome the profession of women, which is considered acceptable in
\nsociety only if they receive a low income, and those from \"minus\"
\nareas - migrants from Banyumas and Pacitan in Java, Batak
\nmigrants from Sumatra, and those from Sumba, Sabu and other areas
\nin East Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Dualism<\/p>\n
Besides low pay, state elementary teachers and managers are
\ntroubled by the coordination between the Ministry's directorate
\nof basic education and the Agency of Teaching and Equipment
\n(Dinas P dan P).<\/p>\n
In theory, the Agency is only meant to help with facilitating
\nelementary schools, but teachers and managers say this \"dualism\"
\nseverely affects school management.<\/p>\n
\"We have proof of corruption,\" said an anonymous teacher from
\nSukabumi. \"My colleague reported it to the Ministry and he was
\nrebuked for lack of loyalty to the civil servant corps.\"<\/p>\n
The teacher said the fact that they are not free to spend
\noperational costs and are obliged to pay for whatever the Agency
\nprovides is troublesome.<\/p>\n
\"At the Agency paint can be three times as expensive as in
\nlocal stores, and there are times when they provide things we
\ndon't need,\" the source said, citing books on Balinese dance
\nwhich is not taught in Sukabumi schools. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/while-teachers-say-the-problems-go-much-deeper-1447893297",
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