TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Teacher welfare in jeopardy amid budget cuts
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
President Prabowo Subianto (left) salutes an audience of educators during a National Teachers’ Day commemoration event in Jakarta on Nov. 28, 2024. Also at the event were (from right to left) Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu'ti, National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto, Home Minister Tito Karnavian, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Cabinet Secretary Teddy indra Wijaya. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto’s push for large-scale budget cuts across ministries, state agencies and regional administrations has prompted the government to halve the quota for this year’s teacher certification program, sowing doubt among educators about the President’s commitment to improving teacher welfare.
In an emotional speech delivered at a National Teachers’ Day event in November 2024, Prabowo had promised to enroll over 800,000 teachers in the Teachers’ Professional Education (PPG) program as part of his administration’s efforts to honor and support the nation’s educators.
Upon completing the PPG program, teachers receive a professional teaching certificate, and those classified as civil servants become eligible for monthly benefits equivalent to their basic salary. Teachers who complete the PPG program but are not state employees become eligible for a Rp 2 million (US$123) allowance each month.
However, Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu’ti announced last week that the PPG quota would be cut in half this year in response to the President's order for government-wide budget cuts, shattering the hopes of many who were seeking the PPG benefits.
Presidential Instruction No. 1/2025, issued in January, mandates sweeping budget cuts to raise Rp 306.9 trillion in funding for Prabowo’s flagship programs, including the free nutritious meals program. But recently, the President said he was seeking to save more than Rp 750 trillion through multiple phases of fiscal consolidation this year and planned to use the savings to fund the country’s new sovereign wealth fund, Danantara.
Read also: Prabowo promises pay rise, benefits for teachers next year
“The implementation of the PPG program, be it for civil servant teachers or non-civil servant teachers who have yet to attain their certificates, will still get our attention, in line with the President’s directive,” Mu’ti said during a meeting with lawmakers from House of Representatives Commission X overseeing education on Feb. 12.
