Honorary Teacher Status Is A Time Bomb, Indonesia Is Threatened With Lack Of Teaching Personnel

Illustration of honorary teacher teaching in class. (Photo: Antara/Destyan Sujarwoko)

JAKARTA - It is sad to read the news that an honorary physics teacher named Munir Alamsyah was desperate to burn down SMP Negeri 1 Cikelet, Garut because his honorarium had not been paid for 24 years. The 53-year-old man taught at the school from 1996-1998, and if the total fee for two years of teaching is Rp. 6 million.

Munir was arrested on Sunday, January 16, after he was caught on a surveillance camera as the perpetrator of the burning of the SMP Negeri 1 Cikelet building. The burning of the school building where he used to teach was carried out on Friday afternoon, January 14. How to burn it is simple, using paper and gasoline.

The combustion effect caused is not terrible, because it does not consume the entire building. The residents quickly noticed Munir's actions, so that the fire was immediately extinguished. Of the six classroom doors he tried to burn, only two were seriously injured while the rest survived.

The school reported Munir to the police so that the honorary teacher who was desperate because his salary had not been paid was arrested. Garut Police Chief AKBP Wirdhanto Hadicaksono in a press statement said that during his arrest, Munir was not detained. He was even given the opportunity to be examined by a psychiatrist to determine his mental condition.

Munir Alamsyah prostrated after his salary as an honorary teacher of Rp. 6 million which he had been waiting for 24 years was paid. (Photo: Antara)

"He is not working, who is a former honorary teacher, based on the presentation from the suspect that the suspect set the fire because the honorary salary has not been paid for around Rp. 6 million," Hadicaksono said as quoted by Antara.

The police finally stopped Munir's legal process, after the SMP Negeri 1 Cikelet withdrew the report, in order to avoid social conflict.

"We see that the material and formalities have been fulfilled," Hadicaksono said again regarding the decision to terminate the legal process against Munir, or what is commonly known as restorative justice.

Munir's honorarium of Rp. 6 million was finally paid by the Garut Regency Education Office on Friday, January 28.

"Now we will replace the honorarium of Rp. 6 million, hopefully this can provide benefits. We from the Garut Education Office are responsible, he is the best teacher," said the Head of the Garut Regency Education Office, Ade Manadin.

Some Cases of Unpaid Honorary Teachers

As a late or unpaid honorary teacher, Munir is clearly not alone. BBC Indonesia on February 21, 2021 ran an article about honorary teachers in this country who were neglected to pay. One example is the case of Hervina, an honorary teacher at SD Negeri 169 Sadar, Bone Regency, South Sulawesi.

Hervina, who has been an honorary teacher for 16 years, in early February 2021 only received a salary of IDR 700 thousand after teaching for four months. Whereas the regional minimum wage for Bone Regency is around Rp. 3 million per month. Hervina then uploaded the case she experienced on social media, so it became crowded.

“Yes (Rp700 thousand for 4 months salary). We don't know how much BOS funds are, we have never had a meeting, we don't know the standard for BOS funds, 4 months is 700 thousand," Hervina said, as quoted by the BBC.

Demo of honorary teachers in front of the State Palace in 2018 (Photo: Antara/Reno Esnir)

After uploading her case on social media, Hervina did not get her rights but was instead fired. After complaining to various parties, Hervina finally got her rights. Pressure from the government and the community made the honorary teacher able to return to teaching in his original place.

Another example is in Bogor, West Java, which also happened to an honorary teacher named Dewi. Like Hervina, Dewi is an honorary teacher at an elementary school who is paid for using the School Operational Assistance (BOS) fund.

"The first time I graduated from high school, I was accepted as an honorary teacher and was paid Rp. 50 thousand a month, then it rose to Rp. 100 thousand, Rp. 150 thousand to Rp. 500 thousand. After 11 years, it will increase to IDR 1 million until 2020 to IDR 1.5 million," Dewi told BBC News Indonesia.

Honorary Teacher Salary Amount

The salary of honorary teachers in each region in Indonesia is certainly different. The highest salary for honorary teachers in Indonesia is in Jakarta. According to the lifepal.co.id website, DKI Jakarta in 2021 will set the salary of honorary high school teachers at Rp.4,590,000 plus an allowance of Rp.229,500 per month.

For other areas it is different, depending on where a teacher teaches. The range is between IDR 500 thousand to IDR 1 million per month. Even schools that lack funds are forced to pay the non-civil servant teachers a salary of only Rp. 300 thousand.

The amount of honorary teacher salaries has actually been regulated in Government Regulation (PP) 98/2020 concerning Government Employee Salaries and Allowances with Work Agreements (PPPK). In this regulation, the salaries of honorary teachers are adjusted to the allowances for the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) at the local agency.

Minister of Education and Technology, Nadiem Anwar Makarim. (Doc: kemdikbudristek.go.id)

Not only salaries, honorary teachers are also entitled to KDP benefits in the form of family allowances, food allowances, structural positions, functional positions, and others. However, there is one condition, the honorary teachers must pass the PPPK selection. If passed, an honorary teacher will get a salary in the range of Rp. 1.7 million to Rp. 6.7 million, depending on the class of teacher concerned.

However, not all honorary teachers agree with the solution provided by the Indonesian government to raise their dignity. This disagreement is mainly complained of by teachers who are old or only graduated from high school level, but have served for tens or dozen years. The PPPK selection does require a bachelor's degree graduate.

In 2022, the government will allocate 758,018 formations for first-class teachers.

"There are 758,018 formations in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee X Commission X, we have carried out calculations including the input we received for religious teachers, it's 758,018, this is a calculation of our needs," said Iwan Syahril, Director General of Teachers and Education Personnel of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research. , and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) in a meeting with Commission X DPR RI on Wednesday 19 January 2022.

The Threat of Teacher Shortage

According to education observer from the Indonesian Education University (UPI) Bandung, Cecep Darmawan, the problem of honorary teachers arose because the Indonesian government did not have a master plan on teachers.

"In the ASN Law, the Teacher and Lecturer Law, there are no honorary teachers, there are ASN teachers and Foundation teachers. There are ASN teachers and PNS. So, why do honorary teachers appear because of the government's negligence to immediately appoint teachers to be ASN? There are minimal temporary retirement teachers that are appointed," Cecep said as quoted by the BBC.

“Waiting for ASN teachers was difficult and long, finally teachers who were labeled honorary were appointed. In my opinion, the government's negligence has become a ticking time bomb," added Cecep, who is also a UPI Professor of Political Science.

Cecep then suggested that the government immediately make a mapping, then appoint honorary teachers by prioritizing those who have served for a long time.

“Those who are under 35 years old are appointed as civil servants, those who are above the age are through the PPPK route. There is a time target and a roadmap. If not, I'm afraid that we will have a teacher emergency," Cecep added.

Based on data from the Ministry of Education and Culture, in 2020 the number of teacher shortages reached 1,020,921 people. This figure is predicted to increase in 2021 to reach 1,090,678 people because of the number of 69,757 teachers who have retired.

In 2022 the shortage of teachers will be 1,167,802 people and by 2024 the shortage of teachers is predicted to reach 1,312,759 people. On the other hand, until 2020 the number of non-ASN teachers in Indonesia will reach 937,228 people. Of these, 728,461 of them are honorary school teachers.