Government urges broader role for teacher training institutes
Deputy Minister Fajar Riza Ul Haq said in Bandarlampung, Lampung Province, on Saturday that the government considers it essential for LPTKs to move beyond their traditional role of producing teachers, emphasizing the need to equip educators with relevant and certified competencies.
“The government continues to face several challenges in meeting the demand for qualified teachers. Our records show that more than 407,000 teachers have met the required academic qualifications but have not yet obtained professional certification,” he said.
Fajar added that around 170,000 teachers remain ineligible for the Teacher Professional Education (PPG) program because they have not yet completed their undergraduate studies. Meanwhile, Indonesia is projected to need approximately 900,000 teachers by 2030.
“Addressing this challenge requires more than increasing teacher recruitment quotas or partially expanding the capacity of LPTKs. It is equally important to align teacher education providers, regional governments, civil service policies, and national education development projections,” he said.
He also highlighted the government’s ongoing collaboration with the House of Representatives to revise the National Education System Law in an effort to improve teacher management and strengthen the role of LPTKs.
“This will ensure that teacher preparation no longer operates through separate mechanisms but as part of an integrated system,” he added.
The deputy minister also called on all LPTKs, regional governments, professional organizations, and the wider community to strengthen collaboration in developing high-quality teachers for Indonesia.
“For the government, advancing education is not only about building schools. More importantly, it is about developing teachers, because the quality of education ultimately depends on the quality of the educators who teach our children every day,” he concluded.
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Translator: D, Hadiyatna, Tegar Nurfitra