The Story Of Teachers Being Scavengers After Teaching Is A Bad Portrait Of State Appreciation For Educators

Photo by Husniati Salma on Unsplash

JAKARTA - DPR member Dede Yusuf encourages the government to evaluate the education budget post system that has been spread across several ministries/agencies. Education budgets should be one door at the Ministry of Education in order to maximize the quality of education services, including in terms of teacher welfare.

"The constitutional mandate and also the National Education System Law (Sisdiknas) say that the education budget should not be used for ministries or official institutions or official education. But in reality, IDR 147 trillion is still used for official education," said Dede, Thursday, October 17.

"Even though the Ministry of Education and Culture's own budget is only Rp. 90 trillion. This means "Jamplang," he continued.

To note, the constitution mandates 20% of the budget from the APBN to be allocated for the function of education. However, the large budget is distributed to 20 ministries/agencies and transfers to the regions.

If the budget post is united into a ministry that is tasked with managing education, according to Dede, the supervision will be more centralized and directed. So that if there is a discovery like what happened last year, namely the education budget is not maximally absorbed, it can be quickly resolved.

"If we want to focus on the constitutional mandate, we should focus on education carried out by the Ministry of Education because the Ministry of Education is the Ministry of Education," said Dede.

According to Dede, who previously served in Commission X in the field of work on education, improving the budgeting system can overcome various problems that still occur in the education sector. Including in terms of teacher welfare, which plays a role in the quality of education services for students.

"If the education budget can be arranged one door, it is hoped that every element in the education sector can be monitored centrally. For example, regarding the process of the need for teachers and how to improve their welfare," said Dede.

Teachers' welfare in Indonesia is still below standard. Referring to the IDEAS report in May 2024, 74% of honorary teachers have income below IDR 2 million, and IDR 13% of civil servant teachers and 20.5% of honorary teachers have income below 500 thousand. Meanwhile, 89% of teachers feel their income is mediocre or less to meet their living needs.

Even 55.8% of teachers are reported to have side jobs, and 79.8% of teachers have debts. Research NoLimit also shows that 42% of people who are entangled in illegal online loans (pinjol) work as teachers. Dede assessed that the problem of teacher welfare is still a big homework in the education system in Indonesia.

"Actually, it is the duty of the state to ensure that teachers who have a noble duty to educate the nation's children can live prosperously," he said.

Recently, the story of Alvi Noviardi has gone viral, an honorary teacher from Sukabumi who returns home from teaching. Scamming has been Alvi's side job for 36 years to cover her needs.

Dede sees Alvi's story as a reflection and real challenge experienced by thousands of honorary teachers in Indonesia. He said the Government has a big responsibility to ensure that the welfare of teachers can be realized, including honorary teachers.

"The story of Alvi's teacher is a bad portrait of the State award for educators," said Dede.

"The government needs to immediately review the wage structure for honorary teachers, as well as set clear minimum standards so that they can get a salary that is in accordance with the important role they play," he continued.

Dede hopes that in the future the Government can improve the issue of teacher welfare. Especially for honorary teachers who, even though they are employees of freelance daily workers (THL), their work is as heavy as AS ASN teachers.

"Honorary teachers also have the right to earn a decent income, social security, job protection, and fair access to professional training and development," said Dede.

Dede understands that the Government has tried to improve the teacher recruitment system through the selection of Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK).

"But this process is also not easy. The slot given is not sufficient for existing honorary teachers with a very large number," he said.

Dede reminded that welfare factors for teachers affect the quality of educational services. Because this has an impact on motivation for teachers to teach.

"Do not let the future of the nation's future be affected by the lack of attention from the state to the welfare of teachers," said Dede.

In addition to making the education budget one door at the Ministry of Education, Dede also emphasized the importance of reforming the education structure and redistribution of teachers.

"This can overcome the gap in teacher distribution by equitably redistributing teaching staff, especially to remote areas," he explained.

Furthermore, Dede assessed that education funds must also be more decentralized to the regions with strict supervision to ensure that the welfare of honorary teachers is a priority, although in reality there is still a budget spread for official education.

"For the ministry that has official education, it can use a scholarship system. So it is placed in universities, but is given scholarships by other ministries or institutions," said the legislator from the West Java II electoral district.

Thus, according to Dede, the education budget can focus on realizing various important problems such as improving teacher welfare.

"The government must tighten supervision of educational institutions, especially in areas that still often ignore the welfare of honorary teachers," Dede hoped.

"Because the right and consistent policies can improve the welfare of teachers so that they have a positive impact on the quality of national education," he concluded.