Decentralization of education in Indonesia

Decentralization of education in Indonesia

H. Mohamad Surya, President, Indonesian Teachers' Association
(PGRI), Bandung, West Java

Recently, education in Indonesia has had to face a number of
challenges resulting from globalization and its impacts. Among
the criticisms are those related to the highly centralized
management of education and a lack of autonomy as causes of
ineffective development of education.

Under a centralistic pattern, education has become separate
from the community as stakeholder of education. Its management
has therefore been based not on an educational paradigm but on
administrative and bureaucratic aspects. Teachers as a central
figure are not empowered under such a system; they have been
treated as subordinates who must follow administrative
regulations.

Today, decentralization should be expected to foster
improvement of education in the districts, in institutions, and
in classrooms. Decentralization can be undertaken through the
provision of autonomy for teachers and other school personnel to
enable them to make the best, professional decisions.

Autonomy of education would guarantee diversity through the
reflection of local values and local education. At the curricular
level, the national curriculum would be developed only regarding
essential concepts, and the local curriculum would be developed
regionally.

Such autonomy would enable the development of education by
involving direct interaction between teachers, students, and also
parents. Educational institutions would have to have full
authority in managing education.

At the local level, teachers and those who run educational
institutions are closest to their local government. The concern
of local administrations for education would be reflected in the
provision of adequate funds and other resources, including
professional management and improvement of teacher welfare.

Practicing regional autonomy should also enable the local
government to manage education according its vision, mission, and
strategy. It would also ensure the relevance between education
and the needs of regional development.

Such autonomy would do away with the red tape that has been
involved in managing education so far, and would also enable the
best use of all resources. Autonomy would also bring about a more
realistic participation of the community in educational matters,
apart from a better promotion of the welfare of teachers and
other educational personnel.

Improving education must start from the teachers, particularly
in regards their professionalism and welfare under a professional
management.

So far, classic problems have remained unresolved. These
include the quantity, quality, and distribution of teachers. The
number of teachers do not meet the number of students, and the
lack of teachers qualified in various subjects, particularly at
the elementary level, have been a major problem in many villages
and remote areas. Qualitatively, most teachers nowadays don't
even meet the minimum educational requirements. Worse, there is
still an inadequate distribution of teachers among schools and
regions.

Discrimination is a main concern regarding teachers' welfare.
There is, for instance, a widening gap in welfare between
teachers, bureaucrats, and other civil servants in the
educational field.

Second, there is a widening gap between teachers and
lecturers, with the latter having long enjoyed many incentives.
Third, there is a widening gap among teachers at the elementary
and the junior high levels. Fourth, a widening gap in salary is
also found among public and private school teachers. Fifth, there
is a widening gap in salary between full-time and part-time
teachers; and sixth, a similar gap exists between teachers
assigned to big cities and those posted in villages or remote
areas.

Seventh, there is a widening gap between teachers who have a
heavier workload due to the limited number of teachers, and those
who have less responsibilities because of a surplus of teachers
at given institutions, but these two groups earn the same salary.

Teaching is still unappealing as a profession because of its
low pay, despite its great responsibility. Teachers deserve to
lead normal and respectable lives, which they unfortunately don't
get from this sort of profession.

However, from the point of view of human resource management,
teaching is not based on an educational paradigm but still falls
under pressure of bureaucratic management -- which, in turn, is
heavily influenced by the political climate and power politics in
Jakarta.

There is no effectiveness in the educational system and its
components, including recruitment, appointment, placement, and
supervision. Neither is there a balanced correlation between the
demand for, and the number of, teachers.

To improve our chronic teacher-related problems, the central
and local governments must have the political will and concern to
place teaching positions more proportionally within the integral
national education system, and to reform all related rules and
laws to make them relevant to current expectations.

The bureaucratic approach to the management of teachers must
be replaced with one that is more systemic and coordinated among
related institutions.

Teachers' training, apart from the education system, needs to
be reformed to ensure the production of more qualified teachers
and other supporting human resources.

The welfare of teachers must of course be improved through a
reasonable salary and fringe benefits. This system should be able
to attract teachers in such a way that would encourage them to
work with more dedication, and with more material and spiritual
satisfaction.

The above is abridged from the writer's presentation at the
Autonomy of Education in Indonesia Conference 2002 held in
September at the Australian National University in Canberra.