Lack Of 1,930 Teachers, The Quality Of Education In Kapuas Hulu Is Getting More And More Pressured By The Abolition Of Honorary Policy

Illustration of a classroom where junior high school students learn to teach. (Antaranews)

KALBAR - Kapuas Hulu in West Kalimantan (Kalbar) lacks 1,930 education personnel or teachers from kindergarten, elementary to junior high school levels.

Head of the Kapuas Hulu Education and Culture Office, Petrus Kusnadi, said that the honorary policy will be abolished in 2023 and will have an impact on the quality of education in Kapuas Hulu.

"The central government's policy of eliminating contract workers makes it difficult for education in the regions, especially since Kapuas Hulu still lacks 1,930 teachers," said Petrus in Putussibau, Kapuas Hulu, Friday, June 24.

Petrus said that the total number of teachers in Kapuas Hulu is around 3,000. The number of teachers are both civil servants (PNS) and honorary.

There will be an additional 442 prospective teachers who pass the selection of government employees with work agreements (P3K). They will receive a decree to start working on June 29.

With this calculation, Petrus revealed that the shortage of teachers in Kapuas Hulu was approximately 1,930 people.

"Supposedly the abolition of contract workers needs to be reviewed, there must be a special exception for education personnel," he said.

Petrus assessed that there was a need for a special scheme or policy to address the fulfillment of teachers or education personnel in areas affected by the elimination of honorariums, such as Kapuas Hulu.

"If the local government or schools are not allowed to hire contract or temporary workers, because this is also related to regulations, how do we cover the shortage of teachers in Kapuas Hulu," he said.

On that basis, Petrus asked the central government to take part in overcoming the shortage of teachers in Kapuas Hulu, which is a border area with Malaysia.

"We hope that the central government will have a special policy to overcome the shortage of teachers in the regions to support the improvement of the quality of education," he said.