Teacher Education for 40.000 University Graduates

The government is making available 40.000 seats for university graduates of all kinds of degrees to enroll in a teacher education program. Upon program completion, these university graduates will be awarded certificates which will enable them to hold teaching positions in the public as well as private school system.
Teacher Reading a Book

“In the course of time, only those who possess Teacher Education certificates are able to practice the teaching profession.” said National Education Ministry's Director General for higher education, Fasli Jalal in Jakarta, Wednesday (22/10). The quota of 40,000 teacher candidates was set to approach the number required for the replacement of retiring teachers and meet demand for new teachers.

According to Fasli, non-education degree holders eligible to enroll are those wanting to teach at the Junior High School, Senior High School and Vocational School level. Those wanting to teach at the Kindergarten and Elementary School level, will be required to have a degree in Kindergarten and Elementary School education.

Teacher Education, Fasli added, for non-education degree holders constitutes a 6-months program, while the training for Kindergarten and Elementary School teacher candidates is a one-year program.

Before enrolling in the program, Fasli continued, candidates will go through a strict selection process. “Only those who have what it takes to become teachers and really have the desire are allowed to take part,” said Fasli.

According to him, these strict requirements are necessary to continually ensure better teacher quality. “said Fasli Jalal.

Sulistyo, Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) chairman said, the government’s initiative to set up teacher education programs, is a crucial step towards raising the quality of teachers. However, precise calculations are required to determine the quota for teachers, taking into account quantity as well as the distribution. This is to ensure that schools are no longer experiencing a shortage of educators, which encourages the hiring of unqualified individuals.

Sulistiyo said, the government should give priority to education degree holders in selecting candidates, since these individuals have been trained as educators for longer periods of time.

Subject content teachers who are non-education degree holders should be asked to teach less common subjects, such as those taught at vocational schools. These subjects usually require teachers with more specific skills,” he said.

On a separate occasion, the Minister for National Education, Bambang Sudibyo said the government has taken several measures to improve teacher quality and welfare and ensured a sufficient supply of teachers.

Up until 2015 it is estimated that 300,214 teachers will head into retirement. This gap will be filled by teachers that meet the current Law on teachers and university lecturers.

The Challenges of Globalization for Indonesian Teachers

Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz, defines globalization as “the closer integration of the countries and peoples of the world ...brought about by... the breaking down of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and people across borders." Thomas Friedman in his book, The World is Flat further emphasizes that the world is now a level playing field.

What does this mean in the education field? It simply means that countries which do not produce world-class graduates will fall behind in this flat competitive ground- because in a flat world, all competitors have equal opportunities. Those who fail to leverage on these opportunities will fall behind. More specifically, educational researchers have propounded that countries which fail to develop “international education”, will be negatively affected in terms of economical, political, and social issues in a mutually bounded world.

This calls for an urgent check on how “international” education standards are in Indonesia; and how teachers can better prepare Indonesian graduates to be more globally competitive.

Local graduates from every level are still a far cry from being competitive globally; even within Indonesia. Recent report has shown that as many as 4.5milliion educated graduates are “fully unemployed” . These are diploma or degree holders, and high school graduates who graduated from local institutions. Analysts attribute this national problem to low teaching and learning quality in Indonesia. This is not surprising, as among the 2.7 million teachers in the country, only 300,000 are certified teachers . Teachers in Indonesia have long been plagued by various problems including insufficient training, low education qualifications, meager salary and inadequate support and facilities. The government, realizing this issue, has declared to increase its teachers’ salary budget by Rp50 trillion in 2009; resulting in almost 100% increment in salary for some. However, monetary compensation alone is insufficient in raising the country’s teaching quality to match international standards.

Essential skills needed in Indonesia’s job market and the global economy are critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, big picture thinking, communication skills and an attitude for lifelong learning.
Educational researchers such as Bates (2002) and Martimore (2001) proposed several ways how teachers can prepare themselves and their students to face globalization. They found that active and project-based learning is vital in developing critical and independent thinkers with problem-solving skills. In advanced countries, these methods are rapidly replacing the traditional teacher-centric based education where only one-way communication takes place. Variety in teaching methods and techniques are increasing, and is coming to foreground in curriculums. For example, the use of computers and the ability to seek for information on the internet is indispensable in this information world. With the internet, the same information can now be accessed by a teacher New York or a teacher in Papua.

Teachers should use the internet to research, update their teaching materials, and find better teaching methods used by more advanced institutions worldwide. In this way, teachers do not need to only depend on the formal training from the state, but to be able to improve and upgrade themselves autonomously. Students must also be taught to seek knowledge independently and have an attitude for lifelong learning, whether through the internet or good old reliable sources like books, magazines and newspapers. Continuous learning is important because change is the only permanent force in a globalized world. Those who fail to keep up with the latest changes will only fall behind and be left out.

Indonesian teachers must soon realize that whether they like it or not, they are being judged by international standards and being compared to teachers from all over the world – by governments, multinational companies, investors, parents and students. If teachers in Indonesia fall short of world-class standards, multinational companies will choose to setup their offices elsewhere due to the lack of a competent workforce; investors will be doubtful of the nation’s future leaders; discerning parents and talented students will choose to study in foreign countries, potentially resulting in a phenomenon known as ‘brain drain’ in Indonesia. As Indonesia celebrate its National Teachers Day, the following quotation by Henry Brooks is recalled “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops”. In a globalized world, a teacher’s influence in Indonesia is almost immeasurable and infinite in defining the nation’s success.

Recognizing this fact, the Sampoerna Foundation Teacher Institute (SF TI) will be organizing the Indonesian Teachers Congress (Kongress Guru Indonesia: KGI) on November 27-28, 2008. This two-day congress focusing on international teaching quality for Indonesian teachers bears an appropriate theme - “Think Global, Act Local”. The congress will serve to enlighten 1,000 teachers across Indonesia on how they can upgrade their expertise and to boost their desire for continuous improvement and lifelong learning. SF TI’s Director, Kenneth Cock hopes that the KGI will inspire and motivate teachers in Indonesia to improve the quality of their work. “We really hope that through the improvement of the skills and professionalism of teachers in Indonesia, they will have the ability to compete globally without losing their identities as Indonesian teachers,” Ken added.

Hopefully, one day, Indonesians teachers and graduates will be a force to be reckoned with – in the globalized world.

Towards Free Education

Jakarta (Vivanews: 10/12/08) - The focus on free education has a 60 year history. It started with the Article 46 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which stated that everyone has the right to education, and that education ‘‘shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages’’. Half a century later, the World Education Forum (WEF) reiterated that all states should not only fulfill an obligation to offer free and compulsory education, but also provide one of good quality. However, the translation of the ideal into reality has been far from straightforward. Other countries aside, let us focus on Indonesia.
In July 2005, the Government of Indonesia introduced the Free Basic Education policy (FBE). Under this policy, school fees are to be abolished in primary and junior secondary school. An advanced gesture, the FBE serves to achieve two goals: act as a compensation for the subsequent increase in fuel prices, and support the 9 year mandatory basic education program by relieving the poor from education costs.

At that time, school enrolment rates were still low, and high costs prevented many low-income households from obtaining formal education.

There are two types of costs in education: direct and indirect costs. Direct costs comprise mainly of school fees, a one-time registration fee at the beginning of the school year, and a set of monthly fees. Average monthly spending is about Rp. 20,000.- (equivalent to approx. USD 2).- for primary school and Rp. 50,000.- (equivalent to approx. USD 5).- for junior secondary school students. The FBE did not mandate that all schools waive off these fees. Instead, it was an option for schools to waive off school fees in return for a ‘block grant’ as compensation for revenue loss. In addition, direct costs also include travelling and school supplies costs. Altogether, these costs pose a significant burden to low-income households. As in other countries, for education to be free, direct costs should be largely be waived off by the government.

However, as it is, Indonesia ranked the lowest among 47 countries (including more “backward” countries such as Uruguay, Kazakhstan and Laos) in its total education spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – measuring only at 1.5% of GDP. Although the budget for 2009 has been increased, there is still a loud cry for the involvement of non-profit organizations, international NGOs, individuals and the private sector to lessen the burden of low-income households to achieve ‘education for all’.

The barriers to free education, as gargantuan as they already are, do not stop there. The greater challenge to free education lies in the indirect costs, or the opportunity costs of putting a child into school. Opportunity costs are the forgone wages in the labor market or loss contributions to household activities. For example, the wages a child brings home from working in a factory, or the farm yield from his efforts. For low-income households, this cost is often higher than the costs of school fees and supplies. When the basic survival needs of a household are not met, families need as many pairs of hands possible to make day’s ends’ meet – they do not need brains.

This perception that short-term gains are more important than long-term investment through education of a child must be changed. Although understandable, this perception has created a reality for many low-income households, and worse, a future that is not any better for their children. On this view, the government and other organizations must do more than contribute money and waive off school fees. They must instead, spend time and effort to aggressively propagate a change of mindset among the poorest levels of society, to prevent the perpetuation of a vicious cycle of poverty.

Admittedly, the real solution of lowering opportunity costs to education is in improved economic conditions in the lower-income levels. However, that will take decades to achieve. Furthermore, we cannot expect better economic conditions in this level without first educating its people. There is no way out except through education.

In its 2009 Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO placed Indonesia 71st out of 129 countries surveyed, down from 62nd in 2007 and 58th in 2006. This shows that instead of progressing in enabling education for all, Indonesia has been slipping down the ladder. Because of the existence of high opportunity costs to education in this country, an ‘iron fist’ approach from the top might not necessarily work. Therefore, the challenge for Indonesia is how it will strategize and galvanize effort from all levels of society to approach this issue from a community-based approach.

The change in mindset towards education has to be generated from the top level but transmitted at the grass root level, with trained change agents including community leaders, principals, village heads, teachers, parents and volunteers.

If not, education in Indonesia will never be free, even if monetarily it is.

* Sapto Handoyo Sakti is Sampoerna Foundation’s Communication Director. He was formerly the Senior Manager of Communications and Outreach at a leading international non government organization in Indonesia.He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Communication Management from Massey University, New Zealand.


Source: www.vivanews.com