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Government’s mixed messages on recruitment leave teachers wary
The government is moving to recruit 1 million contract teachers this year after suspending civil service entrance exams despite objections the teachers have been raising since last year. But a recent statement from National Civil Service Agency (BKN) head Bima Haria Wibisana has now sparked yet another concern -- that the government would permanently stop recruiting civil servant teachers.
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Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) workers in Central Jakarta spray disinfectant at SMP 216 junior high school on Monday (3/16/2020). To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Red Cross disinfected a number of schools. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he government is pressing ahead with a plan to recruit 1 million contract teachers this year after suspending civil service entrance exams despite objections the teachers have been raising since last year.
But a recent statement from National Civil Service Agency (BKN) head Bima Haria Wibisana has now sparked yet another concern -- that the government would permanently stop recruiting civil servant teachers.
Bima was quoted by kompas.com as saying on Saturday that the government might "change teachers' status from civil servants to PPPK [contract-based government employees] so in the future we might not recruit civil servant teachers but only contract teachers."
Indonesia's civil service system recruits both formal and contract teachers, and requires all teacher candidates to pass the civil service exam.
Other aspiring teachers are informally recruited by individual schools as nonformal teachers who are paid by honorarium. Many of them are unpaid and overworked, an issue that has long been of concern to teacher groups.
Bima said the main reason for the change in employment status was to ensure equal distribution of teachers across the archipelago.
"There are a lot of civil servant teachers [working in remote regions] who requested a transfer to other locations after teaching for four to five years. [This] will harm the national teacher distribution," he said. "We have been working to solve this problem for the past 20 years, but [we realized] that it could not be solved with the current civil service system."
