Centralizing Teacher Governance

KOMPAS/DEONISIA ARLINTA

Unifah Rosyidi

Since decentralization was launched in 2001, we have seen the emergence of many initiatives from the regional administrations in managing education.

According to Law No. 32 of 2004 which was amended by Law No. 23/2014, the goal of decentralization is to improve regional autonomy and school autonomy. Regional autonomy is the ability to organize, manage and facilitate education in the regions, while school autonomy is the ability to manage and implement quality learning. From various sources, it is found that thus far there have been various constraints in the regions to realize these two objectives.

It is really difficult to centrally manage 3.017 million teachers who are unevenly assigned throughout the country, which covers 34 provinces; 514 regencies/cities; 147,500 elementary schools; 37,000 junior high schools (SMP); and 25,300 senior high schools and vocational schools (SMA/SMK). The goal of decentralization is to have the difficulty be divided into regions so that the number becomes smaller and easier to manage.

Regional dependence

From the experience in 18 years, managing teachers autonomously is not as easy as one might imagine, as it is even getting increasingly complicated because regional capacity still varies. The dependence of local governments on the center is still dominant, especially in handling technical professional teacher problems. The complexity in managing the teachers is faced with old and unsolved problems, plus new problems that arise due to new policies. The various old problems, which have not yet been resolved, include the lack of teachers at school, the imbalance of teacher distribution among schools, the transfer of teachers among regions, even conflicting data on the number of teachers, which is frequently discovered in institutions.

KOMPAS/ESTER LINCE NAPITUPULU

Teachers take part in training held by the Mobilizing Teacher Camp in Bekasi, West Java, on Friday (5/7/2019). The training, led by musician Tulus (far right, facing camera), the initiator of the camp, was designed to help teachers improve the quality of education.

Teacher governance is increasingly difficult because of the emergence of new problems, such as professional quality, certification and training. Even the management of salary and allowances for teachers, as a logical consequence of the new policies, are also often problematic. Besides the fact that the regional capacity is still far from expectations, it is also caused by the fact that Indonesia adheres to decentralization of expenditure, which has not been successfully balanced by its fiscal decentralization. The student/teacher ratio statistic at the national level is very small (1:15), closer to the ratio in OECD countries. However, in the field this ratio does not look as good as the statistics because the ratio calculates the large number of contract teachers, namely 34 percent in public schools and 16 percent in the private sector. In fact, if counting only the number of permanent teachers, the ratio is 1:22, relatively larger and still adequate for developing countries, such as Indonesia. Compare this with China, which is 1:51, and South Korea 1:31 (US Education Statistics, 2016).So, the number of permanent teachers at the national level is actually not too bad. The problem lies in the unequal distribution of teachers among provinces, among regencies and among schools. The teacher distribution in urban schools is generally far better than the distribution of teachers in rural areas. Many schools do not only experience shortages of teachers, but sometimes also the absence of teachers.

The unequal distribution of teachers may be only one of a number of problems being faced by the regions, ranging from the problem of low net and rough enrollment figures, school dropouts, low national exam scores, damaged buildings and learning facilities, and many more. The local government may be far more aware given the smaller area. They can comb and find out the cause of every problem in their regions. With the ability to process data and read statistics, regional government officials can be more sensitive to any education problems in their jurisdiction. However, most regions do not have that sensitivity.

Not all regions have education statistics, but simply still in the form of a published book. What has not been done much is how to process and read statistical data to make education policies and programs to deal with the problems. Decentralization of education tends to be ambivalent, on the one hand it must solve problems in its territory, but on the other hand the region still depends on the central policy. Different regions also have different problems, but regional policy and program initiatives have not much given their color. The local governments are forced to still "imitate" the centralistic policies and programs from the central government. It is an impossibility if the varied regional problems are handled uniformly by a central policy. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that there are still many acute education problems in the regions that still cannot be fully addressed.

KOMPAS/ESTER LINCE NAPITUPULU

Teachers taking part in training held by the Mobilizing Teacher Camp, pose for a photograph with musician Tulus (fourth left, middle row), the initiator of the camp, in Bekasi, West Java, on Friday (5/7/2019). The training aimed to help teachers improve the quality of education.

Many problems related to teachers can be handled by the regions - such as the distribution of teachers, assessment of daily work, and teacher training at school. Schools still belong to the regions and are fostered by the regions to meet national, even international quality standards. The regions continue to play a role in teacher governance, especially in analyzing data-based teacher needs, proposing new teachers accurately, and placing teachers equally in their regions. Local governments can still use their strength to regulate basic salaries originating from transfers from the central government or additional teacher allowances sourced from the regional budget (APBD), which can be used as an incentive to increase teacher performance in the regions.

The problem is that the role of the regions or schools in dealing with various teacher problems that are educationally technical is less attractive and excluded.

The transfer of special non-physical allocation funds to the regions is actually more dangerous than the benefits when regional capacity still varies. In fact, they are given the trust to manage a large amount of regional transfer funds. Funds that are channeled through bureaucracy in the regions actually have fatal consequences because they are prone to irregularities and provoke rent-seekers due to the rampant politicization of schools and teachers. The involvement of principals, supervisors and teachers in local elections tends to be considered normal because it benefits them as a means of promotion and continuity of office. In reality this politicization is very detrimental in the development of teacher quality on an ongoing basis. The problem is that the role of the regions or schools in dealing with various teacher problems that are educationally technical is less attractive and excluded.

Now, the quality of competency and performance of teachers is still very elementary and almost the same in each region which, for the time being, is still handled centrally. However, without realizing it, the central bargaining position has diminished and seems to be helpless to handle the teacher problems. The center has less power when trying to increase teacher competency and performance. Teacher professional allowances (TPG) or school operational costs (BOS) which have been submitted to the regions cannot be used by the center as an instrument to increase teacher capacity.

For example, the center cannot "force" the regions in terms of teacher training which is suspected to be minimal while in reality the center no longer has such a program. Fund transfers from the center (TPG,

BOS, DAK) do not function as a powerful weapon to boost the performance of the teaching profession. The regions only channel transfer funds, in accordance with operational and technical guidelines, which regulate administrative procedures for disbursement and SPJS (travel order) budget rather than regulating their educational aspects. This problem also becomes a boomerang in realizing school autonomy, even though it is important in the context of decentralization. Schools must be professional education units led by principals as academic leaders. As a professional, the principal is a leader in school-based management (SBM), whose task is to facilitate teachers so that their daily tasks are smooth and not constrained. In the context of SBM, the school principal is far more aware of the condition of his schools so the agencies need to provide broad freedom to organize the schools. The function of the agencies should be more as a facilitator and motivator than "boss" so that the school is more independent, professional and qualified.

As a professional leader, the school principal has the role of facilitating through activities such as teacher training, focus group discussion (FGD), exchanges of best practices, provision of incentives and disincentives for teacher achievement, and the like.

The implementation of daily education is carried out by professional teachers, who have broad, innovative and learning insights, as well as being facilitators and mentors for students for optimal and exciting learning. In executing their professional duties, the teacher must have the freedom to innovate to carry out the functions of facilitator and motivator (performance applauders) for students for optimal learning. The principal should not intervene in the teachers\' job. As a professional leader, the school principal has the role of facilitating through activities such as teacher training, focus group discussion (FGD), exchanges of best practices, provision of incentives and disincentives for teacher achievement, and the like.

Governance transformation

National teacher governance is a structural problem that cannot be solved in an unprofessional way. Great effort in the form of transformation is needed. For the teacher’s key success in entering superior education, teacher governance is the core instrument. For this reason, understanding and cooperation between the executive and legislative officials at the central and regional levels are needed to realize the most effective teacher governance, which is capable of generating teacher incentives so that teachers can improve performance continuously throughout their career. The core component of the most urgent teacher governance to be transformed includes recruitment, placement and continuous improvement of the profession.

The center needs to make technical guidelines on education, not administrative ones, among other things by using teachers’ basic salaries as an instrument that "forces" teachers to follow these guidelines.

The three-year experience of sharing problems according to the level of education is quite problematic, including the fragmentation of responsibility among regional administrations, which is only related to the level it manages. Transformation of teacher governance is a necessity. Careful studies need to be carried out to find the most effective patterns regarding the division of functions between the center, the regions and professional institutions. The regions need to be given a role to deal with teacher problems that are typical of the regions which cannot be done by the center -- such as teacher redistribution in the regions, regional teacher training and teacher training in schools. The center needs to make technical guidelines on education, not administrative ones, among other things by using teachers’ basic salaries as an instrument that "forces" teachers to follow these guidelines.

In decentralization, schools belong to the regions; provinces and regencies/cities, which are responsible for all types and levels of education. However, several teacher governance affairs (such as the development and updating of teacher standards, recruitment of new teachers, placement, certification and promotion of teachers, as well as redistribution of teachers among regions) still need to be handled centrally until the most effective governance model is found. The management of the teacher professional allowances as a monetary instrument must still be handled by the center so that its bargaining position is stronger.

With regard to ongoing teacher professional development, the government still needs professional institutions or organizations, such as teacher training institutions (LPTK) in pre-service education, professional organizations in handling in-service training, selection of new teachers and selection of certified teachers. However, all functions of central, regional administration, and professional organizations/institutions must be combined in an integral system of national teacher governance.

Unifah Rosyidi, Professor at Jakarta State University; General Chairman of the Central Executive Board of PGRI