Transforming Indonesia's teaching force

58917 Transforming Indonesia's Teaching Force Policy Brief April 2010 I. The Quality of Education in Indonesia controversial to quantify the effects of the multiple factors that influence student performance, studies almost universally demonstrate the importance of the quality of teachers. Research also indicates that as teacher quality improves, lower- achieving students benefit most significantly. The Indonesian government has placed a high priority on improving the quality of teaching in order to improve student achievement. This priority has been evidenced both by the establishment of the Directorate General for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel (PMPTK) within the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) in 2004 and the passage of the 2005 Teacher Law. Photo by: Antara Improved knowledge, skills, performance and Progress in learning outcomes is cause for concern. qualifications of Indonesian teachers can enhance their While Indonesia has made great strides in providing universal professional quality. access to basic education in recent decades, the quality of The Teacher Law passed in 2005 requires that all teachers have education in the country has lagged. For instance, as reflected a four-year degree. However, data hows that 44 percent of all in the scores from the 2006 Program for International Student teachers held such a degree4. The proportion of primary school Assessment (PISA) test, over half of the Indonesian students teachers that has a four-year degree is particularly low at 23 who participated were below the basic proficiency level in percent. Math skills1 . Furthermore, of a recent cohort of children who completed grade 9, only 46 percent had actually attained There are concerns, too, about the subject knowledge, pedagogical competency, and general academic aptitude of functional literacy2. teachers in Indonesia. In 2004, MoNE administered an aptitude test to selected school teachers to ascertain their professional Figure 1: Indonesia: Primary School Age Children All children Grade 9 Graduates competencies. The average score of primary and secondary school teachers was 38 percent and 45 percent respectively. Physics, math, and economics scores were even lower at 36 percent5. Dropout Fully Grades 5-9 Literate 31% Not fully 46% Chart 1: Teacher Education Attainment by Teaching Level Graduate literate Grade 9 54% ALL TEACHERS 56% 44% 59% Dropout Grades 1-5 Senior Secondary 19% 81% 8% Vocational 55% 45% Never enrolled Junior Secondary 32% 68% 2% Primary 77% 23% Kindergarten 89% 11% Teacher quality is a key determinant of learning 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% outcomes. <S1 >=S1 The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers3. While it is both extremely difficult and Source: PMPTK database, 2006 1 PISA 2006: Analysis and Data (OECD, 2007) 2 Hanushek, E. A., and L. W