Should teachers have degrees?

Should teachers have degrees?

From Pikiran Rakyat

Reading a news story titled The bill on national education, teachers should have at least a S-1 degree to be licensed to teach published on Dec. 29, 2001, I, as a teacher, need to respond to the statement made by Prof. Dr. HS Hamid Hassan, MA, a member of the Educational Reform Committee.

First, the quality of a teacher is not necessarily determined by his university. After 18 years of teaching in South Banten and currently in Bandung's Junior High School No. 5, I have found that one-or-two-year diploma holders are more qualified as teachers than those with full university degrees. Second, the personality of a teacher is not determined by the possession of an S-1 (equivalent to a Master's degree) but from their natural disposition.

Third, teachers may be obliged to have a teaching license but their trainers should really be responsible for, in particular, their mentality and morality. Do not let teachers with university degrees bring the negative influences of urban modernization to the regions in which they are stationed.

LALAN T TAKHRUDIN

Bandung