Life of Samarinda teachers far from perfect

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda

Being a teacher in a resource-rich province like East Kalimantan has done nothing to improve the livelihood of 40-year-old Erminawati who has dedicated 16 years of her life as a teacher.

As a civil servant with a basic salary of Rp 1.4 million (US$144) a month, she can only afford to buy the bare basic necessities. Still, she feels lucky that she is still single and lives in a home inherited from her parents.

"For a single woman like me, my salary is just enough. Everything is expensive here. I wonder about other teachers who have families or are still on contract, maybe their lives are much harder than mine," said the teacher of the SMU 8 senior high school in Samarinda.

In her house in the Loa Bakung area of Samarinda, only a small television decorates her living room. A motorcycle, which she is buying on credit, is parked outside.

"If I rely on my salary, there's no way I can afford to buy a house of my own," she said.

She expressed disappointment toward the provincial administration that does not pay attention to teachers' welfare and skills, but always blamed them for students' failure to pass examinations.

"If many students fail, teachers are blamed. Our life is not clear and we're only there to serve and yet we don't get the attention we deserve. East Kalimantan is rich, but education gets a backseat because the administration only prioritizes fancy development projects," Erminawati said.

According to East Kalimantan Education Office data, some 13,777 out of 68,967 junior and high school students failed to pass this year's national examinations.

The figure was higher than the previous year, where only 8,490 out of 65,146 students failed in similar examinations.

Chairman of East Kalimantan Education Council, Awang Faroek Ishak, said that the provincial administration should allocate more funds to education to help improve the quality of its teachers.

Currently, he added, the provincial administration focused more on development projects.

"If the money is there, (then) allocate 20 percent for education. East Kalimantan is a rich province, but funds for education are not given priority," Awang said.

In 2004, East Kalimantan provincial administration only set aside Rp 58,98 billion for education, or 2.3 percent of its total Rp 2.9 billion budget.

Awang said that based on Law No. 20/2003 on the national education system, 20 percent of budget funds must be allocated for education. "This means that the education budget should get about Rp 540 billion," he said.

Apart from allocating more funds for education, he also urged the provincial administration to improve teachers' welfare.

"Once teacher's welfare is improved, education quality will also get better. The administration can't force teachers to improve quality if the government never thinks of their welfare," Awang said.

Head of East Kalimantan Education Office, Syafruddin Pernyata, admitted the lack of attention given to teachers in the province compared to other civil servants.

He said that teachers did not get housing or transportation facilities like most other civil servants.

"I know that teachers as civil servants are still getting less attention, still separated from other civil servants. It's not about salary, there's regulations about civil servant's salaries. What's different is that teachers are not given proper facilities, so it's no wonder many of them also work in other places," Syafruddin said.

He said his office has proposed to the administration to set aside funds to improve teachers' welfare. Sadly, he added, there has been no response to the proposal.