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)