MPR Deputy Speaker: Teacher Issues Should Not Be Understood Solely as Administrative Matters
According to her, strong political will is required from policymakers to ensure that reforms in state apparatus governance continue without sacrificing the sustainability of national education or the future of the nation’s generations.
“Teacher issues must not be understood solely as administrative personnel matters. This is a matter of national direction, about how the state fulfils the constitutional mandate to enlighten the life of the nation,” said Lestari in a written statement on Monday (11/5/2026).
Lestari stated that the elimination of honorary staff status through the implementation of Law Number 20 of 2023 on Civil Servants (ASN) is indeed intended to improve national bureaucratic governance. However, that policy must not stop at mere nomenclature changes or administrative tidying.
In reality, said Lestari, for years the national education system has been supported by thousands of non-ASN teachers. They have filled the gaps left by the state, especially in areas short of educators.
“They are not just system fillers. They are the main pillars of educational continuity in many regions,” emphasised Rerie.
The member of Commission X of the DPR RI from Electoral District II Central Java also assessed that the current issues reveal fundamental problems in national education governance. One of them is the lack of synchronisation between real educational needs in the field and policies on recruitment, distribution, and protection of educators.
As a result, said Lestari, the state has allowed the emergence of dependency on non-ASN teachers without adequate protection and certainty systems.
“Do not let bureaucratic reforms give birth to new uncertainties for teachers who have long served to maintain the continuity of national education,” she emphasised.
Lestari stressed that the state needs more fundamental and long-term solutions, not just administrative transition schemes. According to her, a serious national roadmap is needed regarding Indonesia’s future teacher needs, starting from the distribution of educators, a fair recruitment system, job status certainty, professional protection, to decent welfare.
She stated that the quality of national education cannot be built on the uncertainty of educators’ fates. “If the state is serious about building superior human resources, then teachers must be positioned as the main foundation of national development, not just bureaucratic variables,” she said.
Lestari revealed that Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution has clearly mandated that the state is obliged to organise a national education system to enlighten the life of the nation.
Therefore, continued Lestari, all education-related policies should be built with a complete national perspective, namely ensuring educational continuity, access justice, and certainty for educators as the main actors in shaping the character and future of Indonesia.
“A great nation cannot be built by ignoring teachers. In their hands, the quality of generations and the direction of Indonesia’s future are at stake,” she concluded.