Teaching Staff

“Primary school teachers previously were graduates of SPG (school for primary school teachers), which was a three-year education programme following junior secondary education (at the same level as the senior secondary school). However, in order to improve the quality of primary school, the government decided to increase the education of primary school teachers from secondary education to higher education level with a two-year diploma course (D II programme) following senior secondary education. […] At the same time, the government has launched a national in-service training programme for primary school teachers throughout the country using the Open University. Its objective is to train existing teachers to the equivalent level of the Diploma II. Teachers in junior secondary schools are mostly supplied from the graduates of PGSMTP (equivalent to D I or D II teacher training), and D II teacher training run by the institutes and faculties of teacher education. […] Now, junior secondary school teachers should have at least D II education. The teachers of senior secondary schools are mostly recruited from the graduates of PGSLA (equivalent to D II teacher training), D III, and Level 1 [master’s] degrees.” (Moegiadi & Jiyono, 1995, p. 443).

The quality of education at the various school levels is closely related to the capacity of the Teacher Training Institute (LPTK) to produce quality teachers. The LPTK trains an average of 7,500 primary school (PS) teachers of the Diploma II programme per year. This is a relatively small number, compared to the national demand for teachers (296,653 PS teachers in 1994/95 and 26,740 general junior secondary and senior secondary school teachers in 1992/93). The number of graduates is even smaller, compared to the number of teachers retiring, dying or leaving (for other non-teaching jobs) every year, which reached 23,453 persons or 2.0% in 1994/95. The discrepancy in PS teachers is mostly caused by the imbalance in the distribution of teachers, as the national teacher-student ratio is 1:23.

The number of junior secondary school (JSS) and senior secondary school (SSS) teachers in 1992/93 was 379,478. There is a shortage of 7,590 teachers or 2% every year. In 1991/92, the LPTK produced 36,161 teachers. This figure outnumbered the total number of teachers needed for each subject in 1992/93. If the LPTK structure remains the same as it is today, the number of surplus teachers will increase each year. There is currently both a surplus and a shortage of teachers. Based upon the 1994 curriculum, in 1992/93 the JSS and SSS had a surplus of 79,174 teachers but also a shortage of 52,434 teachers. The surplus of 79,174 are teachers in subjects like Pancasila education, Bahasa Indonesia, social science, handicraft and arts, sports and health, national history, sociology, geography and foreign languages. There is a shortage of teachers in mathematics, science, English, local content, etc. The shortage of teachers in local content was a result of the new government policy of considering local community needs and conditions. The shortage in teachers of religion is due to the fact that the LPTK does not produce teachers in religion as this is the job of an LPTK outside the Ministry of National Education.

As far as the quality of teacher education is concerned, the LPTK should meet the challenge of becoming an institution responsive to the needs of society by producing a large number of quality teachers. The alternative would be to restructure the LPTK programme. The LPTK’s programme of studies should be more flexible and adapted to current needs. The other challenge is to have a regular assessment of the need for teachers and other teaching manpower, based upon demands in the field. If this can be materialized, the LPTK will become an inseparable part of the educational workforce.

In 1994/95, there were 1,172,640 primary school teachers; 392,588 JSS teachers; and 316,479 SSS teachers. Of the total number of primary school teachers, 61,744 were qualified (5.3%); 1,026,228 were semi-qualified (87.5%); and 84,668 were under-qualified (7.2%). Of the total number of JSS teachers, 151,251 were qualified (38.5%); 197,336 were semi-qualified (50.3%); and 44,001 were under-qualified (11.2%). Of the total number of SSS teachers, 144,590 were qualified (45.7%); 124,180 were semi-qualified (39.2%); and 47,709 were under-qualified (15.1%).

The out-of-school education level should be improved by equipping the participants with skills needed by the industrial and economic sectors. Other efforts include small business learning, apprenticeships and skills development. The number of out-of-school participants in income-generating programmes was 188,320 persons during the Fifth Repelita (1989-94) and 4,048 in 1994/95.