W

hen President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo went to the Istora Senayan Indoor Stadium to speak at the celebration of National Teachers Day, which falls on Wednesday, he did not expect to be reunited with his old junior and senior high-school teachers.

'€œWhen I entered, I was shocked when the Culture and Education Minister [Anies Baswedan] said that my junior and senior high school teachers were here,'€ he said during his speech at the event on Tuesday.

Jokowi told the crowd of more than 12,000 teachers that he had met with his former teachers, among them his former biology teacher Nurhayati, and that he hoped he had not misidentified them.

'€œShe was my biology teacher. I have not met her in 40 years, though, so I hope I remembered correctly,'€ Jokowi said.

After introducing six of his junior and senior high school teachers to the audience, Jokowi reminisced about his school days.

'€œI received the best score in chemistry, just ask Bu Ning. Many people don'€™t believe that I'€™m smart but it is all due to my teachers. It was not all me,'€ Jokowi said, referring to his former chemistry teacher.

After paying homage to his high school teachers, in his speech Jokowi thanked all teachers nationwide for their dedication.

'€œI appreciate this year'€™s theme, that teachers are noble because of their creations, [they are] exalted as a result of their creations. I am one of my teachers'€™ creations,'€ Jokowi said of this year'€™s theme '€œRealizing the mental revolution through the reinforcement of teachers'€™ strategic roles'€.

Soon after wrapping up his speech, Jokowi went down from the stage and walked toward a wheelchair-bound woman who hugged and kissed him on the cheeks.

The woman was Sutoto, his former algebra teacher at state junior high school SMP 1 in Surakarta, Central Java.

Sutoto described Jokowi as a modest student who always did his homework.

'€œHe was a good child who lived a modest life,'€ she said.

When asked what she hoped Jokowi could achieve in the future, Sutoto'€™s answer was brief; she wished that her former student would become a great leader.

'€œI hope that he will be successful. That would be very good,'€ she said.

The reunion was not the only highlight of the celebration. During his speech, Jokowi also called on teachers and parents nationwide to protect children from negative content that often circulated on social media.

'€œThere'€™s television at night that could influence [children] and then there'€™s social media, which could also influence the characters of our children,'€ he said, emphasizing that teachers in schools must also build the characters of their students.

'€œI only ask for the children to be protected from negative influence from any sources,'€ he said.

During the celebration, Minister Anies promised that he would increase the quota of teachers placed in remote regions.

'€œLast year there were only 798 teachers. We will increase the number of teachers on the '€˜front line'€™ to 3,500 teachers,'€ he said.

However, Anies acknowledged that there were still not enough teachers in remote areas where their roles were essential for inspiring young children.

Anies said that one of the obstacles the ministry faced in sending teachers to remote areas was that their placement and rotation was under the purview of the local governments.

'€œThe problem is that teachers [are managed] by the provincial governments, not the central [government], so that the regulations are a little different,'€ he said.

To improve the quality of teachers, soon after being appointed minister Anies set up a directorate general dedicated to the teaching profession.

Anies said the directorate general would focus on training teachers and improving their welfare.

Ministry data show that currently the country has more than 3 million teachers working in 208,000 schools, providing instruction to some 50 million students.
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