Teacher certification a hope amid concerns about quality
(Source: The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Friday, 02 May 2008)

Poor quality and payment are issues most teachers in the country have been fighting. There is no quick fix to address long-standing problems, but the government believes a teacher certification program is the right medicine, even if it will be painful for some.

Launched in 2006, the program is aimed at certifying Indonesia's 2.7 million state and private school teachers in service by 2015. The measure is outlined in the 2005 law on teachers and lecturers, which requires educators to possess professional certificates to be able to teach.

Under the teacher certification program, those considered fulfilling the competency standards are entitled to certificates and professional salaries. Those who are not will be given time to complete their portfolios, or the opportunity to attend training courses and take a competency exam.

The program, however, is restricted to teachers who hold bachelor's or four-year associate degrees. Those with lower educational backgrounds, who account for nearly 60 percent of the teaching population, will have to undergo the teacher qualification program. The program requires teachers to pursue undergraduate studies.

The implementation of the certification program, however, has raised some questions. First, are teachers who pass the certification test indeed those eligible to teach? Second, is the process is fair? And third, can the program really improve the quality and welfare of teachers and therefore the whole education system?

To answer the first question, it is important to understand the assessment mechanism of the certification process.

In its book of guidelines, Reforming Teachers Toward Educational Equality and Quality, the National Education Ministry says that to obtain certification, teachers must submit their portfolios to one of the 31 Teacher Education Institutions (LPTK) offering teacher education programs, which will conduct the assessments.

Portfolios are the teachers' "claim of their professional experiences in the form of a collection of documents reflecting their competencies".

A teacher will be eligible for certification if his portfolio reaches a minimum score of 850. Each document produces a different score. A bachelor's degree, for instance, equals 150 points, while a three-day seminar is worth 80 points.

A professor in pedagogy from Jakarta State University (UNJ), Soedijarto, says he has doubts over the ability of such a system to assess teachers' competence. The method, he says, has "low levels of confidence, validity and reliability".

"For instance, if a teacher took part in one-day seminar or a week's training, would that automatically add to his competency? We have to first see what sort of seminar he took part in," says Soedijarto.

He says that assessment should be based on teachers' performance. He suggests that assessors at the LPTKs gather information on the teachers' performance by interviewing their principals and supervisors, as well as students and former students.

The principal of state Islamic high school MAN IV Jakarta, Muchyi, shares the view, saying portfolios do not necessarily represent teachers' professional ability.

"In fact, not all teachers documented events they had participated in, while more documents they have collected do not at all reflect better quality. I have seen those participating in numerous seminars and workshops show no change in their teaching paradigm," he says.

This criticism notwithstanding, the certification remains good news for most, if not all, teachers. They welcome the new policy with expectations that it can indeed improve their welfare

However, here lies another problem. As the government set quotas for only 20,000 teachers in 2006 and 180,000 others in 2007, most teachers have to stand in line longer to be able to follow the certification process. Who, then, is eligible for the first seats?

Director general for quality improvement of teachers and education personnel at the Education Ministry, Baedhowi, said that aside from the mandatory bachelor's or four-year associate degree qualification, the certification process would prioritize teachers with more teaching experience.

But Muchyi questions this, saying that senior teachers are not always better than their juniors.

"Senior teachers may have better teaching methodology, but in terms of academic qualification, young teachers are often better as they're fresh from colleges," he said.

Fairness is another cause for concern when it comes to the requirement of 24 hours of teaching time per week, with not all teachers having the opportunity to do so, says Cyprianus Aoer, a member of House of Representatives Commission X overseeing education.

He cites the difficulties facing teachers of sports and religion subjects to meet the requirement, with their weekly teaching times falling short of those of their counterparts who teach subjects such as math or social science.

Cyprianus of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) says the certification process would also remain unfair to teachers in remote areas if the government strictly applies the rule. For sure these teachers face geographical barriers in attending events that could add to their portfolio scores.

Such problems, however, will become less significant after the third question is answered. Will the implementation of the teacher certification program, regardless of the flaws during the implementation, improve the quality of education here?

Education expert Winarno Surakhmad, who is also a counselor at the Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI), says no, not as long as other components of education are ignored.

He says the government has to improve the quality of four other components, which are the quality of students, curriculum, education management and facilities and infrastructure.

"Improving teachers' quality only does not automatically improve our education. Good teachers without good management won't work," he says.

PGRI chairman Muhammad Surya suggests that to make teacher certification a success, the government must better inform teachers and other parties of the program, establish better coordination among them and cooperate with local administrations. Consistent funding of the process and the professional allowance is also necessary.

Despite all the issues and the flaws, the teacher certification program remains a hope for many people concerned with education in the country.

Thanks to the promised doubled base payment, the educators will compete to improve their quality and the classic problems of welfare will no longer give them an excuse not to do their best.