Life of Samarinda teachers far from perfect
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.