Government Urged to Set Minimum Lecturer Salary Standards, Not Leave It to Universities
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Deputy Chair of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Lalu Hadrian Irfani, has urged the government to set a national minimum salary standard for lecturers, including those with non-civil servant (ASN) status.
The politician from the Awakening Party believes that the government should not leave the wage system entirely to individual higher education institutions.
“Do not let the ‘market’ determine lecturers’ salaries. The government must intervene by, at the very least, setting a national minimum wage standard for lecturers,” Lalu Hadrian stated when contacted by Kompas.com on Tuesday (5/5/2026).
This situation has the potential to trigger disparities and income uncertainty for lecturers.
“The government must stop the systemic disparities between ASN lecturers and non-ASN lecturers at public universities under legal entity status,” Lalu said.
He emphasised that the issue of lecturers’ welfare cannot be viewed solely from the perspective of salary amounts, but also concerns respect for the teaching profession.
He assured that the DPR will accommodate the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the discussion of the National Education System Bill Draft (RUU Sisdiknas), including demands for lecturers’ base salaries to be at least equivalent to the minimum wage in the region where the higher education institution is located.
“We certainly respect the ongoing constitutional process at the Constitutional Court. We will not influence the ruling and will await the decision as a reference for determining next steps, both in legislative and oversight functions,” Lalu said.
“If relying only on a base salary of Rp 3,390,500, that amount is below the minimum city wage (UMK) in Depok applicable for 2025-2026,” said Irwansyah in the hearing of case number 272/PUU-XXII/2025 on Tuesday.
He explained that the lecturers’ wage system is highly dependent on university autonomy policies regulated through rector’s regulations, thus not providing equal protection for all educators.
“The components of lecturers’ income are highly variable and based on performance or incentives, not on a fixed minimum standard of living guarantee,” he said.