Future bleak for teachers' course

Future bleak for teachers' course

JAKARTA (JP): The future of a high-profile training program
looks bleak as the government moved yesterday to limit the number
of program graduates eligible for civil servant status.

Director General for Elementary and Middle Education Zainal
Arifin Achmady and Director General for Higher Education Bambang
Soehendro said that the program, which is designed to upgrade the
proficiency of elementary school teachers, has so far produced
7,000 graduates.

The ambitious two-year, non-degree PGSD program started one
year after the government phased out teacher schools in 1989 and
in anticipation of the government's plan to extend compulsory
education from six years to nine years.

Of the 7,000 graduates, only 5,000 have been successful in
securing civil servant positions, Bambang said, even though the
government gives PGSD graduates priority over graduates from
those in the phased-out schools.

Since 1990, it has been a requirement for elementary school
teachers to have the PGSD diploma from accredited Teachers
Training and Education Institutes (IKIP) and regular
universities.

In 1994, Minister of Administrative Reforms T.B. Silalahi
announced that the government would impose a "zero growth rate"
on civil servant employees in several government offices. As a
result, new employees would only be recruited to replace retirees
and the number of civil servants would be maintained at a steady
4 million.

Due to a shortage of teachers, however, it was stipulated that
the "zero growth rate" would not affect the teaching sector or
the recruitment of new teachers.

The PGSD issue dominated the hearing between the Education and
Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro with the House of Representatives
(DPR) members yesterday, where Bambang and Achmady were also
present.

Achmady explained that at the time the PGSD program was
designed, the "zero growth rate" policy had not been announced,
so it was estimated that all PGSD graduates would gain civil
servant status.

Worsen

Now, PGSD graduates outnumber the allotment for civil servants
in the ministry, he said, which many feel will worsen the already
acute problem of unemployment among thousands with teaching
education backgrounds.

Both Achmady and Bambang said that in the future, they would
limit the number of PGSD students to about 5,000, which is the
number of civil servants needed from the program.

Achmady also pointed out the need to acquire more accurate
information about the number of teachers required in a region.
"When we initiate teachers now, we must also assign them schools
so they don't all end up in the cities, with shortages in other
parts of the country," he said.(pwn)