VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: Deputy II Chief of Presidential Staff Abetnego Tarigan hopes that the commemoration of the 65th National Education Day (Hardiknas), which falls on May 2 2024, will provide momentum in accelerating teacher certification.

According to Abetnego, teacher certification is an effort to meet the guaranteed needs for teachers who play a strategic role in creating an inclusive and safe learning ecosystem.   

"Accelerating teacher certification is a necessity so that teachers earn income above minimum living requirements and social welfare guarantees," said Abetnego in a statement received in Jakarta, Thursday.

Abetnego explained that currently, of the 3 million teachers in Indonesia, only 1.34 million teachers have been certified or around 44.9 percent.

If teachers' income is obtained from salaries and professional allowances based on certification, this means that there are still more than one million teachers who are not prosperous.

Apart from that, many teachers still have to find additional income to meet their living needs, and quite a few are even caught in illegal online loans (pinjol).  

"There should be no more stories of teachers having to work as farm laborers or goods couriers after school hours are over, or even stories of teachers being caught in debt," he said.

Abetnego said that the Presidential Staff Office supports the efforts of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemdikbudristek) which is preparing a new scheme to accelerate teacher certification.

With this new scheme, there are several adjustments for teachers and prospective teachers who take Teacher Professional Education (PPG), especially in the recruitment, learning and selection processes.

In the recruitment process, continued Abetnego, the government updated in-service teacher data (daljab) which contained teachers' education and teaching experience more accurately.

Meanwhile, in learning, there will be adjustments related to "hybrid" or mixed implementation, travel time and credit units for teachers with certain conditions.

"In the admission selection there are also adjustments that make it easier for daljab (in-service) teachers to take competency tests conducted by the Ministry of Education and Culture," added Abetnego.

He believes that the changes to the PPG scheme, which are currently being discussed in the Minister of Education and Culture's Draft Regulation, will be a leap in breaking down the deadlock in the implementation of certification as mandated by Law (UU) No. 14 of 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers.

With this new scheme, KSP hopes that the target of at least 800,000 certified teachers can be achieved this year as an effort to improve quality education.

Source: Antaranews