Unair Clarifies Lecturer Salary Structure After Viral Constitutional Court Testimony
Universitas Airlangga (Unair) has provided a detailed explanation regarding lecturer salaries after the issue was highlighted in the testimony of Faculty of Law lecturer Cenuk Widiyastrisna Sayekti. She claimed to receive a salary of only Rp2.6 million despite being a graduate of a foreign university and having been a lecturer since 2010. The statement was made during a judicial review hearing of Law Number 14 of 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday (30/6).
Director of Human Resources, Talent Management, and Organisational Development at Unair, Radian Salman, stated that a lecturer’s income should not be judged solely by the basic salary figure. He explained that the basic salary mentioned in the testimony is just one administrative component listed on the pay slip and does not reflect the actual take-home pay (THP) received by lecturers each month. “Unair believes that a lecturer’s income cannot be seen only from the basic salary. The basic salary is one administrative component in the pay slip. Meanwhile, the take-home pay consists of various income components,” Radian said on Saturday (7/4).
Radian detailed that the monthly take-home pay comprises the basic salary, functional allowance, family allowance, and an additional functional allowance, which is typically paid mid-month. Beyond the monthly components, lecturers also receive annual entitlements, including a 13th-month salary, a TPK 1 allowance, and a Religious Holiday Allowance (THR) equivalent to the basic salary. With this scheme, Radian noted that the total annual income for a lecturer is equivalent to 14 months’ salary.
In addition to fixed components, Radian highlighted the existence of variable income, such as meal allowances, non-civil servant lecturer certification allowances, honorariums for supervising community service programmes (KKN), examining, grading, and incentives for scientific publications and other academic achievements. Regarding periodic salary increases, Radian explained that these occur every two years, though the amount is relatively small as it is calculated only from the basic salary component, ranging from approximately Rp96,000 to Rp120,000.
On the difference in payroll schemes, Radian stated that in principle, the income scheme for civil servant (PNS) and non-PNS lecturers is the same. The main difference lies in the source of funding, where PNS lecturers are paid by the government, while permanent non-PNS lecturers are paid directly by Unair. Based on data from the Unair Human Resources Directorate, the basic salary of the lecturer in question was indeed recorded at around Rp2.6 million upon entry, as stated in the court testimony. However, the same data shows that her total income for 2025 was approximately Rp94-95 million per year, averaging around Rp7.8 million per month. Up to July 2026, she had received over Rp50 million, with an average monthly income of around Rp9.2 million. Unair asserts that this take-home pay is above the Surabaya City Minimum Wage.
Radian also addressed the issue of research funds, which were also highlighted during the hearing. He stressed that research funds are not part of a lecturer’s fixed income but are competitive grants that must be applied for by the lecturer. The disbursement of research funds occurs in two stages: 70 percent is released after the contract is signed, and the remaining 30 percent is disbursed after the research output targets are met. If the targets are not achieved, the remaining 30 percent cannot be disbursed. Radian emphasised that Unair never withholds research funds outside of this established mechanism and that the amount of research grants varies depending on the scheme, ranging from around Rp37 million to Rp200 million.
In conclusion, Radian stressed that a lecturer’s income must be assessed based on the overall take-home pay, not just the basic salary listed on the pay slip, as the nominal figure does not include the various monthly and annual allowances received.