The Irony Of Teacher Welfare And Performance Satisfaction Of The Ministry Of Education And Culture

The results of research by the IndoStrategi survey institute show that the Ministry of Basic and Medium Education (Kemendikdasmen) is the ministry with the best and most prominent performance during the one year administration of President Prabowo Subianto.

"Based on the results of our research, the Ministry of Education and Culture and Minister Abdul Mu'ti took first place with a score of 3.35," said IndoStrategi Research Director, Ali Noer Zaman, at a press conference, Friday, October 17.

According to him, the performance of the Ministry of Education is considered superior because it has succeeded in presenting a number of innovations, including the redistribution of ASN teachers, the renewal of the performance system of teachers and school principals. In addition, the transformation of the new student admission system, as well as the application of deep learning (deep learning) and coding in schools are also positive factors for the Ministry of Education and Culture.

ILLUSTRATION/ANTARA/HO-Humas Kemendikdasmen

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The innovation is considered adaptive to the need for education in the digital era and pays attention to equitable distribution of the quality of education in the regions. Deep learning and coding learning innovation is appreciated as an adaptive step towards the digital era. The ASN teacher redistribution program is starting to pay attention to equitable distribution of the quality of education in the regions," Ali added.

In addition, the new student admission system is also considered more orderly and minimal turmoil than in previous years. "Then the supervision of the quality of education is said to be running more objectively and data-based," said Ali.

Chairman of the Executive Board of the Indonesian Muslim Student Union, Bintang Wahyu Saputra, admitted that he was not surprised that the Ministry of Education and Culture seemed to stand out in one year of President Prabowo's administration. This is because the education sector, especially human development, has indeed become one of the president's focuses. He considered that the vision of human development in the era of President Prabowo looked more monumental because it was oriented to a systemic and sustainable approach.

The nation's future development is pursued through simple but very strong programs in its goals, namely Free Nutrition Food (MBG) and People's Schools. The two programs are designed to provide direct benefits to the community, especially the lower middle class.

Through MBG and People's Schools, President Prabowo's government seeks to ensure the fulfillment of children's nutrition and expand access to quality basic education. "At least, there is no fundamental program with a sensitivity of benefits as strong as MBG and People's Schools, through guaranteeing good nutrition and slick education," said Bintang.

Indeed, it must be admitted, the People's School program is one of the most prominent initiatives of President Prabowo in the field of education and social welfare. Launched on July 14, 2025, the People's School is said to be a tangible manifestation of the government's commitment to providing free and quality education for the welfare community. This program utilizes unproductive state assets, to be transformed into a new learning space for children from poor families.

In the early stages, the government opened 63 points of the People's School with a total of 6,130 students. Now, the number has increased to 165 start-ups with more than 15 thousand students spread across various provinces, from Java to Papua. The government targets that in the next five years, more than 50 thousand poor children can receive free education through this program.

Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu'ti/ANTARA/Endang Sukarelawati

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However, behind the government's optimism, the People's School program has also sparked public debate. Some observers assess that this step has the potential to cause new problems in the national education system.

The National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI), Ubaid Matraji, assesses that People's Schools can widen social disparities and reduce the spirit of education inclusiveness in Indonesia. "In fact, widening the gap. People's schools have the potential to make education less inclusive," he said.

According to him, education should be a common space for all groups, not distinguished based on economic background. If poor children are included in the People's School, while rich children go to superior schools, it means education becomes exclusive and risks discriminatory," he said.

Ubaid also highlighted the management aspects under the Ministry of Social Affairs which are considered to have no experience in the education sector. This is like a new field of experiments. The fate of teachers, curriculum, and education directions is not yet clear," he said.

In addition, Ubaid assessed that this program is too political and prone to being unsustainable. "If the president changes it for another five years, will the program continue? Otherwise, what will happen to his students?" he continued.

Change Of Teacher Policy And Welfare

IndoStrategi Research Director, Ali Noer Zaman, also conveyed several notes to the Ministry of Education and Culture. He stated that despite being the ministry with the highest satisfaction in the IndoStrategi survey, the Ministry of Education and Culture was not complacent. This is because some policies are considered to change too often, such as in the PPDB system and Academic Ability Test (TKA), causing confusion in the field.

Presiden Prabowo Subianto memimpin Sidang Kabinet Paripurna yang membahas realisasi pada 2025 dan rencana kerja pada 2026 di Istana Negara, Jakarta, Senin (20/10/2025). (ANTARA/Aditya Pradana Putra/nz)

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In addition, the Ministry of Education and Culture must also pay attention to the low welfare of teachers and the decline in the education budget due to the shift in government focus on other programs such as MBG. "Then the implementation of the AI program and coding has not been evenly distributed, especially outside Java," Ali added.

Meanwhile, education observer Darmaningtyas conveyed two important notes for President Prabowo's government in the field of education. First, governance and inter-ministerial authority that can overlap. Second, social effects on poor children. The Ministry of Social Affairs should strengthen the social side. Education should remain the domain of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religion," he said.

He also reminded social segregation in education that could actually strengthen the cycle of poverty. "If the poor are collected into one, without bridges to social relations with others, they can be trapped in a cycle of poverty," said Darmaningtyas.

Ubaid Matraji also reminded that President Prabowo's government still has big challenges in the education sector, one of which is to stop the commercialization of education and ensure that all citizens can access compulsory learning. Education rates that are included in the program must study, must be financed by the government, meaning free of charge both in the country and in the private sector," he said.

In addition, the government is also required to pay serious attention to improving the welfare of teachers. This is because the welfare of teachers has an impact on the quality of education. "Finally, the government must strengthen the Educational Personnel Education Institute and tighten the selection of prospective students at the faculty of teachers. Because at this time anyone can enter the teacher's faculty without a strict selection, so the competence of graduates is questioned," concluded Ubaid.