Nadiem Anwar Makarim: Thank You for the Struggle of All Teachers
As long as teachers cannot meet their basic needs and their welfare is not guaranteed, they will have difficulty focusing on their teaching activities.
By
ESTER LINCE PITUPULU/ALOYSIUS B KURNIAWAN/ EVY RACHMAWATI
·4 minutes read
In welcoming National Teachers’ Day, which is celebrated every 25 Nov. Kompas daily had the opportunity to interview Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim in Jakarta on Monday (22/11/2021). The theme of National Teacher's Day 2021 is “Working with Heart, Restoring Education". Below are excerpts from the interview with the Minister, who is often called Mas Minister.
How do you view the role of teachers in the recovery of education during this pandemic?
Distance learning, which has taken place for more than one and a half years, is not optimal. Now, teachers have a heavy burden on their shoulders to overcome our children's lack of progress. Many of the teachers have to go to students' homes to ensure they can learn well. The struggle of all teachers in this 1.5-year period is extraordinary. My most important word is to thank all the teachers for the great efforts they have made.
The teacher's role is so important in the restoration of education and also for future education. What is the big design for the development of Indonesian teachers?
As long as teachers cannot meet their basic needs and their welfare is not guaranteed, they will have difficulty focusing on their teaching activities. Therefore, this year, the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry has opened a large number of positions for teachers with government employee status with work agreements (PPPK). And this is a historical year because we have never opened such a large number of job openings for teachers before. In one year, there are at least 500,000 positions for teachers with such a work contract agreement. This is the first time that all nonpermanent teachers in Indonesia are given the opportunity to take part in a selection test to become PPPK teachers who will have the same salary as those of PNS (civil servants). They have the opportunity to take the selection test three times. For the improvement of teacher competence, we are now in the process of making an application platform to be used as an “online university” for teachers.
With the launch of the Guru Penggerak (Teacher Motivator) pilot program, we train and evaluate teachers who have a leadership spirit in line with the philosophy of our education pioneer Ki Hadjar Dewantara, which puts students first in everything. They are trained for nine months to become teacher motivators. They become ambassadors for independent learning in schools. Hopefully, they can light the “candles” of change around them.
Kompas/Totok Wijayanto
Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim when interviewed by Kompas, Monday (22/11/2021).
Then, the “new blood” of teachers is needed because many teachers will retire every year. We hope new teachers will begin their career in areas where teachers are badly needed. So, in preparing the teachers, a number of aspects must be considered such as welfare, competence, regeneration and leadership.
During your assignment, what were your most touching experiences when interacting with the teachers you met?
The experience that touched me most was when I met Pak Sukardi, a nonpermanent teacher in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. What touched me was when Pak Sukardi met his former student who had become a school principal, while he remained a nonpermanent teacher with a monthly salary of Rp 500,000. Pak Sukardi felt both proud and ashamed. I can feel his pride and shame at the same time. He is definitely not alone, many teachers feel like him.
The second moment was when I interacted with the Orang Rimba tribe teachers in Jambi. They took their food, clean clothes with them, and bathed the children in the forest every day. All of them were nonpermanent teachers.
Many think that being a teacher is just looking for a stable job. However, when these teachers went into the field, it turned out that many did not care about money. They could find another job, but choose to go to the forest every day to educate the children. This motivates us to realize that we must set them free.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
