New law aims to improve welfare of teachers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The long-awaited bill on teachers and lecturers promises greater appreciation for these professions, and charges the government with the responsibility of improving the quality of life of the nation's educators.

The bill, however, only applies to teachers and lecturers working in state educational institutions, but not to those employed by private ones.

Full-time teachers and lecturers will be entitled to receive a couple of additional monthly allowances as well as educational benefits for their children.

In the latest draft of the bill, which is expected to be passed into law on Tuesday by the House of Representatives, teachers and lecturers will be remunerated at a level that is above the minimum cost of living, with their take-home pay consisting of a basic salary, an allowance based on the salary, a professional allowance, a functional allowance and additional performance-based benefits.

The monthly professional allowance will be awarded to teachers and lecturers who have been certified by a government-appointed educational institute.

This certification system is expected to be put in place over the next six months. In order to obtain certification, a teacher must hold at least a bachelor degree.

"Those who do not will be given the opportunity at the government's expense to bring their educational levels up to scratch," said lawmaker Heri Akhmadi from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who heads the committee deliberating the bill.

The amount of the professional allowance will be equal in size to the basic salary.

A special allowance, along with housing, will be awarded to teachers and lecturers working in special areas. These areas will be designated in subsequent government regulations.

Teachers and lecturers will also receive benefits in the form of priority scholarships for themselves and their children.

As for teachers and lecturers working in private institutions, Heri said the House would immediately draft a new legislation to cover them so they would also be entitled to receive such allowances.

In return, the bill obliges teachers and lecturers to take responsibility for designing and evaluating their subjects as well as upgrading their academic qualifications.

To support quality improvement, teachers and lecturers are entitled to take sabbatical leave to pursue studies while still receiving their salaries and allowances.

In emergencies, the government will be permitted to compel teachers and/or other Indonesians who have the required academic qualifications to teach in special areas across the country.

"None of these efforts to support teachers and lecturers will ever come to pass without the government making an effort to allocate 20 percent of the state budget to the education sector," said Heri.

For fiscal 2006, the Ministry of National Education has been allocated some Rp 35 trillion, or around 8.1 percent of the total state budget.

Education and the quality of life of teachers and lecturers have long been at the end of Indonesian governments' lists of priority, leading to an abysmal record in the country's education sector.