Government Pushes for Uniform Competencies Among Educational Support Staff

The government is promoting uniform competency standards for educational support staff or tendik across all types of institutions. Currently, there remains a disparity in the quality of human resources (HR) between public and private universities.

This was stated at the opening of the Workshop and Benchmarking for Human Resource Analysts of Civil Servants, held at The Alana Solo Hotel & Convention Center, Colomadu, Karanganyar Regency, on Tuesday, 7 April 2026. The event, running until 10 April, is attended by dozens of educational support staff from various universities.

Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto emphasised that educational support staff play a strategic role in supporting the quality of higher education. According to him, the presence of tendik is often overlooked, despite their contributions determining the running of the institution.

“Without the presence of educational support staff, it is difficult to realise high-quality and competitive higher education. Their role may seem small, sometimes not visible at the front, but it is very strategic and important,” said Brian, who attended virtually.

Brian stressed that strengthening the capacity of educational support staff is not merely a routine training agenda, but part of the foundation for building a more effective and competitive higher education system. From administrative tasks to operational support, he said, tendik play a role in ensuring all academic processes run efficiently. Brian hopes this competency improvement will directly impact the performance of universities. “From the small and crucial activities carried out by tendik, we hope that the agenda and progress of higher education will become much better,” he said.

Vice Rector for Resources at Sebelas Maret University (UNS) Solo, Muhtar, said the event is an initiative of the Directorate of Resources of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, in collaboration with UNS. “This programme is funded through the ministry’s budget and only involves selected universities. Of the 78 universities selected, only eight were appointed as organisers because they are assessed to have good human resource governance,” said Muhtar.

According to him, one of the objectives of the event is to reduce disparities in HR quality between universities, both public and private. The government, he said, is encouraging more uniform competency standards for tendik across all types of institutions. “In the future, foreign partners will not look at the status of the university, but at the quality. Therefore, HR competencies must be balanced,” said Muhtar.