By enacting Law no 14/2005 on Teachers and Lecturers, the central government ignited feelings of joy and optimism for many people, not only teachers, because it officially acknowledges teaching as a highly respected profession. The law also requires all local governments to increase a teachers' salary by 100 percent as soon as they obtain the required educator certificate.
However, many people do not realize the consequences of the law.
First and most obviously, teachers are now required to get certification; a requirement many have so far failed to meet.
Second, the government needs a huge amount of money and therefore time, somewhere in the range of 10 years, to implement this policy.
Third, the resources of government agencies and infrastructure needed to support the two policies are limited.
Besides being healthy physically and spiritually, teachers must be academically qualified, competent, and certified according to the law. A bachelor (S1) or a 4-year diploma (D4) degree is the minimum qualification needed to teach in Indonesia. But statistics show that more than 1.6 out of Indonesia's 2.7 million teachers lack this requirement. While they are in no danger of being dismissed, as they have ten years to acquire the necessary degree, these teachers will find it difficult to pursue their studies because it is their own responsibility to meet the cost of education.
Teachers who already have an S1 or D4 degree can become certified through either in-service teacher portfolio assessment or in-service teacher certification through education and training. In 2007 there were little more than 170,000 teachers across nation entitled this method of certification.
In 2006, the year certification was first made available, only 20,000 teachers were eligible. There are still more than 1.5 million ineligible teachers. And the number of universities and institutions that offer programs to help teachers meet the requirements is far below the number needed to accommodate the roughly 150,000 teachers per year.
But the question must be asked: is the certification program able to improve the quality of our educators?
To what extent can the certificate be used to measure the in classroom effectiveness of a teacher?
There is not enough evidence to support the claim that certification is a must for improving the quality of teachers. This is because teachers depend on both content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. But there is no conclusive evidence as to which is more important in ensuring their effectiveness.
The certification procedure is complicated and the policy itself is confusing. How come teachers who graduated from Institutes of Teacher Training (IKIP) before the law was enacted also have to undergo the same process and obtain the AKTA IV certificate?
Perhaps this was done to ensure senior teachers receive a pay raise before they retire, as they have been underpaid for so long. If this certification project can really improve the effectiveness of a teacher, students may not receive the benefits any time soon as many of those senior teachers will retire. The certification project very likely help teachers obtain the status of professionals, but it is highly unlikely that it will enhance the quality of education.
Indonesian teachers need to be aware that acquiring the status of a professional is not enough. They have to organize themselves through a strong, independent professional union and improve their professional skills in order to contribute to the wider goal of educating the nation's youth.
The government needs to evaluate whether or not the certification project really influences the effectiveness of teachers in the classroom. The certification project should also cover more individuals, rather than just in-service teachers, because those highly qualified individuals interested in becoming teachers are as important as in-service teachers in their potential to enhance the quality of education in Indonesia.
The writer is university lecturer in Salatiga, Central Java.
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