Reject The Sisdiknas Bill To Enter The 2023 Priority Prolegnas, The DPR Is Considered To Have Listened To Teacher's Aspirations

Photo by dawn herlambang on Unsplash

JAKARTA - The DPR's decision to reject the National Education System Bill (RUU Sisdiknas) is included in the 2023 Priority Prolegnas deserves appreciation. This legislative institution is considered to have listened to the aspirations of millions of teachers and lecturers in Indonesia who reject the draft regulation.

"The Sisdiknas Bill is the government's initiative. Now, when the government's proposed bill which is rejected by many teacher organizations and lecturers goes to the DPR, it is appropriate for the DPR as the people's representative to at least hold on to the plan to discuss the bill," said Lecturer at Soetomo University Surabaya, Ari Junaedi, Saturday, September 24.

Ari assessed that if the Sisdiknas Bill, which was rejected by various teacher organizations, was rejected by the 2023 Priority Prolegnas, then the DPR received a negative perception from the public, especially teachers and lecturers, because it was considered not to listen to aspirations.

"Even though the Sisdiknas Bill is the Government's proposal. So it is true that the bill was not included in the 2023 Priority Prolegnas, so that the hot ball should not be in the DPR," said the communication Science teacher at the University of Indonesia (UI).

Ari assessed that the DPR wants the Ministry of Education and Culture to discuss it again with many policy makers (stakeholders), such as teachers, lecturers and various professional organizations that oversee it, before bringing the bill back to the DPR.

"The absence of the Sisdiknas Bill in the 2023 Priority Prolegnas means that the DPR only wants to discuss 'cold balls' or those that are not strongly rejected by the community, especially when it comes to the issue of teacher and lecturer professional allowances, which are extraordinary in numbers," said Ari.

"So the DPR's attitude is correct because the DPR must be a representation and distribution of people's aspirations, not a government'stamp' tool," he continued.

To note, the Sisdiknas Bill was not approved to be included in the 2023 Priority Prolegnas. The decision was taken when the Legislative Body of the DPR held a working meeting with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the Regional Representative Council (DPD), Tuesday night, September 20.

The DPR conveyed that the government, in this case the Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Mendikbud Ristek) Nadiem Makarim, opened a dialogue space with stakeholders before submitting this bill to be discussed with the DPR.