Islands suffer from teacher shortage

Islands suffer from teacher shortage

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: As an example of the limited number of teachers in the Muna regency near here, an elementary school teacher has been forced to teach six classes per day.

The teacher shortage was revealed to Southeast Sulawesi Governor H. La Ode Kaimoeddin in his visit to island areas early this week.

The lack of teachers has affected the educational standards in the area, especially in the Tikep district, Antara reported on Thursday.

Several elementary schools in the area have only one teacher, who is forced to teach all classes from the first to the sixth grade.

La Ndamu, a teacher, said he had to teach all six classes from the morning until the evening.

"Each class has an average of 20 students," he said, adding that the problem was made worse by the limited availability of teaching materials, including teaching guide books.

He explained that the number of teachers in the area had declined over the last four years as many teachers assigned there moved to other areas.

L. Samudi, head of the local office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, admitted that most teachers assigned to work in the islands came from other areas.

"We even cannot prevent the teachers from moving to other areas, as they usually do it stealthily," he said.