(Jakarta, Kompas: 06/11/08) – The issue of upgrading teacher quality shouldn’t be debated any longer; it is something that needs to be done. Without a quality upgrade, efforts to increase the education quality and the education budget will be wasted.
teacher writing
World Teachers’ Day, which is celebrated on 5 October every year, served as an opportunity to introspect regarding the professionalism and quality of teachers.
This observation was made by the Chairman of the Board of PGRI or Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia, Sulistyo during a ceremony commemorating International Teacher’s Day, Sunday (5/10). Initiatives to upgrade the capacity and quality of teachers is the responsibility of the Ministry of National Education, the Regional Government, schools and teachers themselves.
Creating Awareness
Sulistyo revealed that teachers need to be aware personally, about improvements and changes in performance. Teachers must have a thorough understanding regarding the specific qualifications and duties that are required of them.
In reality, as an illustration, Sulistyo revealed his dissertation findings on meta-cognitive abilities of teachers in preparing lessons, particularly the methods teachers applied in planning, thinking, and managing class material.
“The ability of teachers in preparing class material isn’t up to standards. Teachers have a vague picture of what their duties are in class,” said Sulistyo whose reserach included questionnaires, classroom observations, in-depth interviews as well as psychological testing.
Preparation is commonly done only by following the lesson planning guidebook collectively agreed in Teacher Meetings or Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran, usually printed by the local Education Office, however, not yet fully applied by teachers.
Not On Target
Sulistyo has also found that initiatives for professional development at the municipality or regency level often neglects the real needs. Teachers are still regarded from a bureaucratic perspective, rather than an academic one.
“Teachers should have access to information on education research and technology. However, this access is not given to them, thus teachers continue to miss out on information. It’s a classic problem in Indonesia,” he said.
“Sometimes only a representatives on behalf of the teachers is sent to training seminars. There are teachers who never experience improvement. Contrastingly, some teachers receive several opportunities for training,” Sulistyo added.
According to Sulistyo, the Ministry of National Education should re-evaluate the teacher quality improvement programs, because they have not been altered much. An assessment needs to be made to evaluate whether they are still “on target”.
Supriyono from the Jakarta Teachers Association or Serikat Guru Jakarta, and founder of the Indonesian Forum for Honorary Teachers, said during the ceremony commemorating World Teachers’ Day, that honorary teachers are demanding that the government take swift action to eliminate any form of discrimination against non-government teachers. “ The same demands are made of all teachers: To educate the nation’s students, “ he said.
He is asking the government provide regional or provincial minimum wage in addition to social security for employed teachers. Many foundation still do not pay adequate salaries, in particular those operating in the not-for-profit sector. “They provide honorary fees that are adjusted to match the economic condition of the communities. On average Rp 250.000 – Rp 500.000/month.” he said. (INE)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Teacher Quality is A Must
Posted by cowokkece at 15:20
Labels: Improvements
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