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eachers and education experts have said there are pros and cons to the government'€™s possible plan to start recruiting new teachers on a contractual basis instead of hiring them as civil servants, and extending the contracts based on performance.

Rina Purwati, a first grade teacher at SD 4 state elementary school in Bekasi, West Java, said that a performance-based contract system would create a fairer playing field for all teachers and instill a healthy sense of competition, which could lead to better quality teachers.

'€œI can only say that there are two sides, if you ask me whether or not this plan is a step in the right direction. On the one hand, since there would no longer be a difference between civil servant teachers and honorary teachers, they would be more enthusiastic about competing with each other and developing teaching competency,'€ she told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Rina explained that such contracts would appeal to teachers who were willing to continuously improve, which would result in better teachers and better quality education for children.

However, Rina noted that the contracts could also end up being a burden for teachers with less experience or skills, who could end up quitting because of the fear of not having their contracts extended.

'€œOf course there will definitely be those who are scared because [teaching] is such a huge moral responsibility. There may be those who are scared of that challenge,'€ she said.

On Tuesday, the Culture and Education Ministry'€™s senior advisor for innovation and competitiveness told the Post that the government hoped the new recruitment system, which could be implemented as early as next year, would encourage new teachers to perform better.

The policy comes in response to the failure of a teacher certification program aimed at boosting teacher quality, despite being introduced a decade ago through the 2005 Teacher and Lecturer Law.

The new system also aims to improve the status of honorary teachers, who are employed by schools instead of the government and are said to be underpaid and overworked.

Meanwhile, an honorary mathematics teacher at SMP 199 junior state high school in Jakarta, Ghelviny, said he was worried that honorary teachers would not be able to compete with civil servant teachers who had more experience and training.

'€œThey will probably specify long teaching hours, like a full 24-hour week, which many of us cannot fulfill. Currently, I am teaching while also attending university so it is impossible for me to work such long hours,'€ he said.

Separately, education expert Itje Chodijah said she welcomed the proposed recruitment system as it would do away with subpar teachers who could not be laid off because '€œthey consistently filled in the right forms and continued to get higher positions'€.

However, she said the central government and provincial administrations must also do their part by providing training for new recruits so they were not left to struggle to improve their skills alone.