Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education prepares strategy to address non-civil servant teacher issues

Tangerang Selatan, Banten - The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) has stated it is preparing a strategy to address welfare issues and the growing number of non-civil servant teachers in Indonesia. Deputy Minister of Basic and Secondary Education Atip Latipulhayat, during a discussion with the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) in Tangerang Selatan, Banten, on Monday, explained that one of the strategies involves restructuring the authority for teacher management. “This is our proposal, which we call the restructuring of teacher management authority. First, the planning of education and teaching staff needs is done jointly between the central and regional governments,” he said. It is also proposed that the appointment of teachers, learning supervisors, school inspectors, and school supervisors be handled by the central government. Meanwhile, performance evaluations, career development, professional advancement, awards, welfare, and protection for educators and teaching staff would be managed by both central and regional governments. “These five points form our grand design, which we have already incorporated into the draft amendment of the National Education System Law,” Atip said. He added that there are currently around 200,000 non-civil servant teachers. According to him, the accumulation of non-civil servant teachers is due to suboptimal recruitment patterns, with civil servant teacher recruitment fluctuating year-on-year. Meanwhile, Director General of Teachers and Education Personnel Nunuk Suryani stated that the high number of non-civil servant teachers in Indonesia is due to recruitment not matching the number of retiring civil servant teachers. “Every year, 70,000 civil servant teachers retire, but our recruitment is always below 50 per cent. This gap is filled by non-civil servant teachers,” Nunuk said during the same event. Nunuk explained that efforts to restructure non-civil servant teachers have been ongoing since 2021, but not all have been absorbed into civil servant positions due to certain considerations from regional governments. Therefore, Kemendikdasmen proposes returning teacher management to the central government. “We may have more power to ensure this, and all we need is data collection and verification from regional governments. So it remains a collaboration,” she added.