JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal emphasized that the commemoration of the 2025 National Education Day (Hardiknas) should be a momentum for improving the quality of education.
According to him, education in the country still encounters many problems, one of which is the inequality of the rights of education of the nation's children ranging from elementary schools (SD) to universities (PT).
"The National Education Day that we commemorate every May 2 must be a momentum to reflect on the country's commitment to the future of children as the nation's next generation," said Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, Friday, May 2.
Cucun also highlighted the inequality of educational services, including in terms of infrastructure and educational facilities in urban areas that are far more feasible and adequate than in the regions.
"And this inequality occurs not only in the Disadvantaged, Frontier and Outermost (T3) areas, but also in areas that are not too far from the capital," continued Cucun.
One example is experienced by students of SD Negeri 2 Sumengko, Blora, Central Java who were forced to study in a badly damaged classroom. The students at the school studied in classrooms with damaged ceilings, broken roofs, and several walls and floors looking cracked. This condition has even been going on since 2019 and there has been no repair at all.
"Of course classrooms like that are very dangerous for students. These kinds of things must be a serious concern of the Government, both central and regional," explained Cucun.
This PKB politician alluded to the fate of schools built by the Ministry of Public Works in the last nearly a decade. According to Cucun, many of these schools are now marginalized because they are not integrated with the optimal national education policy.
"But hope is starting to appear. President Prabowo's Quick Wins program through the Presidential Instruction (Inpres) will be an important momentum to resolve this inequality. The program will ensure that no schools are left behind just because of the issue of cross-ministerial coordination. This will be handled soon," he said.
Meanwhile, at the higher education level, Cucun highlighted the issue of striking fiscal inequality between State Universities (PTN) and Ministries/Agencies Universities (PTKL). For example, large PTN such as the University of Indonesia, Padjadjaran University (Unpad), or Gajah Mada University (UGM) which has tens of thousands of students, but the budget allocation is not comparable to PTKL.
Cucun said that many fewer PTKL students actually received budget allocations of more than Rp 500 billion per institution. According to him, this inequality injures the principle of fiscal justice in higher education. Because of this, Commission X of the DPR RI has formed a Working Committee (Panja) of PTKL to seriously study and fix this inequality.
"We will see the number of PTN students such as UI, Unpad, UGM, many students, how much is the budget prepared by the Minister of Higher Education? But PTKL, one PTKL alone can (get a budget) above Rp 500 billion. This is not yet fiscal justice. That's why Commission X DPR is the form of a PTKL committee," said Cucun.
Cucun also highlighted the issue of the welfare of teachers and lecturers who are still minimal and far from a sense of justice. In fact, according to him, some honorary teachers and lecturers still have to swallow bitter pills related to the threat of losing their status and being laid off due to the government's arrangement of non-ASN staff.
"Even though there are still many honorary and non-ASN teachers who stand at the forefront of education. But until now, there are still many honorary and non-ASN teachers who do not have certainty of status, decent wages, as well as access to training and self-development," explained the PKB Deputy.
Therefore, Cucun supports President Prabowo Subianto's plan to provide assistance to honorary teachers and teachers who have not studied D4 or S1, as well as the renovation of 10,440 schools.
"The DPR supports all government efforts in the context of equitable distribution of national education and the welfare of educators, so that the quality of Indonesian education will be better in the future," said Cucun.
At the moment of the 2025 National Education Day, Cucun also emphasized the importance of Early Childhood Education (PAUD) which must be a priority in the future. Because PAUD is an important foundation for children's development and development of quality human resources (HR) in the future.
"Of course this must be a common awareness, that early childhood education cannot be considered a common thing. Because PAUD is a golden age period for children so the quality of education is very important for their growth and development," said Cucun.
The Deputy Chairperson of the DPR, the Coordinator for People's Welfare (Korkesra), also encourages the Government and education stakeholders to pay more attention to the urgency of early childhood education.
"Including how good values and norms can be instilled since PAUD is part of children's character education, as well as lessons for early childhood who can hone their talents," he said.
Cucun asked the Government to formulate policies as best as possible to overcome the problems of bullying and violence that are rampant in the school environment. He also encouraged that character development for problematic children must use an approach according to the needs of each child.
"We have to make sure schools become the safest and comfortable environment for children other than at home. Not only as a place to learn, schools must also be a place that feels like a friend's house that is fun for children. So there is no tolerance for school violence," said Cucun.
On the other hand, Cucun calls for all elements of the state, both executive, legislative, and local governments to jointly commit to fighting for equal access and educational facilities, fiscal justice, and the welfare of educators as an absolute prerequisite so that this nation can truly educate the lives of its people evenly.
"Education policies must be really measured. Policies that have been implemented by previous ministers must be evaluated," said Cucun.
"If it's good, it must be continued, and what is not optimal must change. But the policy changes must also be studied carefully," he added.
Cucun also hopes that the 2025 Hardiknas will serve as a reminder that education is the right of all Indonesian people.
"Hardiknas is a commemoration of Education Day which belongs to us together. So happy National Education Day 2025 for all of us. Hopefully, with the quality of equitable education, Indonesia will have more and more superior next generations," he concluded.
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