Teacher Certification Program and Social Envy at the Local Level

One of the most popular songs by Iwan Fals goes: Oemar Bakri, Oemar Bakri, the civil servant. Oemar Bakri, Oemar Bakri, forty years of tenure Being an honest and dedicated teacher is painful Oemar Bakri, Oemar Bakri generates a lot of ministers Also professors, physicians, engineers But why is the teacher’s salary being cut?

The image of Oemar Bakri, who rides his bicycle to school, has been the best representation of teachers in the past. Many teachers had to moonlight in other professions and do odd jobs just to make ends meet. As the song correctly identifies cases of salary cuts were pervasive at that time.

Both the Old and New Order Regimes were considered under-spenders in education. Tempo (2000) reported that for a time, Indonesia was placed among the lowest ranking countries in the world in terms of its education budget. Moreover, education spending was focused on building infrastructure while neglecting the issue of teachers’ salaries. The Teachers’ Hymn which designates them as “heroes without medals” was an accurate expression of teachers’ hard work without proper reward.

The whole landscape of education changed following in the Reformasi era. Law No.20/2003 on the National Education System (with judicial review from the Constitutional Court) and Law No.14/2005 on Teachers and Lecturers ensured that education spending is more than sufficient and introduced a shift away from infrastructure towards salaries and handsome allowances, which recognise qualifications. Paying professional allowances is believed to motivate teachers to upgrade their academic qualifications to bachelor’s degree level, and thus improve their teaching quality and, eventually, improve student performance.

Nine years since its implementation, an assessment of this teacher certification system is crucial, particularly because of its consequences for public spending. In the 2015 budget, the expenditure for professional allowances is projected to reach 70 trillion rupiahs, more than 6 times the allocation in 2010. Against total education spending, the professional allowances have increased from 5% in 2010 to 17% in 2015. Doubling the salary of all of Indonesia’s three million teachers —which is what the professional allowance scheme entails—would certainly expand the spending significantly. In the context of public spending, it is valid to ask the question of whether the impact justifies the expense.

Unfortunately, the World Bank’s 2014 quantitative study demonstrated an insignificant impact on both teacher quality and student learning outcomes. These findings come from a rigorous impact evaluation study conducted in 2009, 2011 and 2012 involving 360 schools.

In addition to these formal evaluations, it is also interesting to consider the perceptions of non-teacher stakeholders at the local level. Recent research by SMERU found that in general, officials in District Education Offices, District Personnel Offices, and District Parliaments highly doubt that a doubling of teachers’ wages can motivate teachers to perform better. In fact, many officials said that the uncertified teachers were more motivated than the certified ones.

If one asks non-teacher stakeholders to identify the impact of the certification program, the most common responses would be: increase of car ownership, expansion of school garages, and traffic jams caused by teachers travelling to school meetings. This is so because banks and vehicle dealers at the local level have been more aggressive in offering lavish consumption credit to certified teachers. Car loans, for example, can be paid flexibly depending on the transfer of allowance; no sanction is applied for late payment. Predictably enough, the teacher certification program has been well tapped by the commercial sector as an opportunity to boost business profits.

Meanwhile, the impact in terms of student learning outcomes could not be apparent to non-teacher stakeholders as the passing rate of National Exam had reached 100%, even before the certification program. Non-teacher stakeholder also explained that at the local level, the certified teachers rarely use the allowances to buy resources -- such as computers, laptops, or books -- to improve their teaching quality. This might help explain why professional allowances bear little impact on teacher quality.

These negative – and rather cynical – responses could be interpreted as an expression of social envy towards teachers. As the biggest component of the civil service, teachers are the most visible group at the local level. In general, most families have relatives working as teachers. Thus, any improvements in their welfare are certainly noticed. It is even more noticeable in the case where the households are composed of both husbands and wives are certified teachers. There are also cases of triple salary: when the certified teachers happen to work in remote, impoverished, or conflict-affected areas (Suryahadi and Sembodo, 2013).

Teachers’ working hour is another issue among civil servants. Government Regulation No. 74/2008 about Teachers stipulates that teachers should at least have 24 hours face-to-face teaching per week. Since this is the basis for claiming certification allowance, many teachers believe that their obligatory working hours are only 24 hours/week. However, the Minister of National Education Decree No 15/2010 about Minimum Service Standards (MSS) for Basic Education also stipulates that a permanent teacher is to work 37.5 hours per week which is similar to other civil servants. Teachers are expected to spend the other 13.5 hours doing other non teaching tasks in addition to 24 hours face to face teaching. Meanwhile the calculation of 37.5 hours becomes more complicated in the case where teachers have to teach in more than one school.

The ministerial decree urging 37.5 hours per week is indeed very difficult to enforce. SMERU study in 2013 found that the school principals were resistant to comply with this without referring to specific stipulation made by the district head. Difficult enforcement is also found in SMERU study in 2014 where 41% and 57% of teachers at the primary and secondary school level, respectively, work less than 37.5 hours a week. Many teachers, particularly those who already have sufficient class to teach, believe that their obligatory hours are only the 24 hours a week. Considering numerous school holidays, teachers might even work only for less months a year compared to civil servants. This luxury also generates social envy.

The teacher certification program has given teachers who meet the qualification criteria a stronger bargaining position by reducing their economic vulnerability. Any future effort to improve education policy will have to factor in the issue of teacher certification.

One example is the issue of teacher distribution; certified teachers would be extremely resistant to be moved to schools with an undersupply of teachers. Similarly, schools with an undersupply of civil servant teachers would find it extremely difficult to accommodate civil servant teachers if non-civil servant teachers in those schools already receive professional allowances. In any case, the transfer of teachers will affect the state of affairs of teaching hours at the school level. This is the main issue for professional allowances. Inefficiency in the education sector could be difficult to correct; while allowances are a positive in terms of teachers’ livelihoods and address a longstanding undervaluation of teachers, it also makes them less inclined to accept government direction.

The image of Oemar Bakri riding his bicycle is no longer relevant for today’s context. But his honesty and dedication is an indispensible referent for the improvement of education quality. The certification program should shift teachers’ motivations away from the appeal of a lifetime job as a civil servant, and instead encourage them to consider teaching as a profession in itself.

The writer is a researcher at the SMERU Research Institute. The opinions expressed are her own. Published in the Jakarta Post, Sat, July 11 2015