F

inance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has admonished the Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI), saying the quality of education in Indonesia had not improved even though teachers were receiving better pay through the government’s certification program.

“I initiated the teacher certification program and I’m glad it happened. [But] It turns out that those certificates mean nothing. It’s just a formal procedure to receive extra pay,” Sri Mulyani said, as quoted by tempo.co on Tuesday.

The 2007 Teacher Certification Program was implemented to improve the quality of 3 million Indonesian teachers by offering incentives for them to undergo a comprehensive evaluation.

The program evaluates a teacher’s academic performance, personality, pedagogical skills and emotional well-being. The teachers that pass the evaluation will receive double their previous salary and higher allowances toward professional development.

However, teachers often use their extra income to buy more goods instead of developing their teaching skills.

Sri Mulyani also urged teachers to be more proactive in advising how the annual education budget should be spent to improve the quality of national education.

According to prevailing laws, at least 20 percent of the state budget must be allocated to education. The education budget was set at Rp 444 trillion (US$31 billion) this year.

“I knew that this system would be dangerous, because it makes us passive in managing the annual budget,” said Sri Mulyani.