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entral Java faces an average 5,000 elementary school teacher shortage each year due to a high retirement rate and low appointment rate.

The provincial chapter Indonesian Teacher’s Association (PGRI) noted that around 10,000 elementary teachers would retire this year, especially those appointed through the Presidential Instruction (Inpres) program from 1976.

Central Java PGRI vice chairman Tulus Wibowo said a large-scale retirement of teachers would begin next year and last until 2016.

“Those who are entering their retirement period (60 years of age) are elementary school teachers who were appointed through the Inpres program between 1976 and 1981,” Tulus told media Thursday.

He added that between 1976 and 1981, the New Order government appointed elementary school teachers to teach in Inpres elementary schools, which were built then.

Tulus said there were currently around 230,000 elementary school teachers in Central Java who hold civil-servant status. The number only represented around 70 percent of the present need, he said, adding that every school in Central Java still had a shortage of two to three teachers.

The shortage is getting worse due to the slow rate of recruitment. The government has so far only appointed 3,500 teachers, or around 70 percent of the 5,000 retired teachers. The condition, added Tulus, would become a serious problem for elementary schools in Central Java. “Now alone, many elementary schools are in shortage of teachers and this will exacerbate when teachers appointed through the Inpres program enter their retirement period,” said Tulus.

The issue becomes more complicated when considering that the government has disallowed contractual teachers to become assistant teachers. In addition, the government has stopped appointing contractual teachers as civil servants this year.