Secondly, after Reformasi in 1998, the government often implemented a zero-growth policy in the recruitment of new civil servants, including would-be teachers, so those who started teaching in the 1960s and retired were not automatically replaced, as were retiring teachers recruited in the 1970s. The recruitment of new PNS teachers only took place massively in 2005-2008 during the Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) administration. In his campaign, President SBY promised to make honorary teachers PNS teachers. However, their number at that time was only about 260,000 which paled in comparison to those who were retiring.
Even today we are living in a digital era, the need for in-person teacher presence still cannot be replaced by technology. Technology may be able to facilitate teaching, but it cannot fully fulfill the role of education, where school is also considered a place to build character and foster a spirit of nationalism. Therefore, the PNS teacher crisis demands serious attention from the government, either through the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister, the Religion Affairs Minister, Finance Minister, or the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Minister. Failing this, we will experience a prolonged crisis of PNS teachers which will have a detrimental effect on the quality of education.
In 2002, when the government stepped up recruitment of PPPK teachers, it offered civil servants within the National Education Ministry (Depdiknas) to become teachers in their respective regions. However, because at that time teacher salaries were very low and there was no other income, not many civil servants were interested in changing their professions (from structural staff to teachers). But now the salaries professional allowances of PNS teachers are quite large, so if the offer is made again, it is very likely that many non-teaching civil servants are interested in becoming a teacher.
The government should make the offer again in order to meet the demands for PNS teachers in the regions, considering that the financial incentives for PNS teachers has undergone major changes. Young but less productive civil servants in a number of ministries/agencies can be outsourced as teachers by providing them brief training at teacher training colleges. This measure may even prove to be productive as it is very likely that some of them also have a passion to teach.
Phasing out honorary teachers?
The threat of a teacher crisis in general (not just PNS teachers) will be increasingly felt by the education sector as a result of the government policy to stop the recruitment of honorary staff by 2023 in all government agencies, including of course at the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry and the Religion Affairs Ministry.
This measure was announced by PANRB Minister Tjahjo Kumolo on January 18. According to Minister Tjahjo, the recruitment of honorary personnel interferes with the need for ASN work force in government agencies, because the it is carried out continuously and thus there will be no end to the problem.
Actually, this is not a new regulation. Article 8 of Government Regulation (PP) 48/2005 on the appointment of honorary personnel as civil servant candidates (CPNS), clearly states: “Since the promulgation of this regulation, all personnel administration officials and other officials in government agencies are prohibited from recruiting honorary staff or the like, unless stipulated through a Government Regulation.”
The prohibition is reiterated Article 96 of PP 49/2018 on the management of government employees with a work agreement which states: (1) Personnel Administration Officials are prohibited from recruiting non-PNS and/or non-PPPK employees for fill ASN positions; (2) The prohibition referred to in paragraph 1 also applies to other officials in government agencies who recruit non-PNS and/or non-PPPK employees; (3) Personnel Administration Officials and other officials who recruit non-PNS and/ or non-PPPK employees to fill ASN positions are subject to sanctions in accordance with the provisions of the law.
This means that regulations prohibiting the recruitment of honorary personnel have been around for a long time (17 years) but they were often ignored by regional leaders who change every five years, so it’s likely that they were not aware of the regulation, at the same time they also had to reward their supported by appointing them as honorary personnel in a number of institutions, including the educational ones, producing “K2 honorary teachers” (in 2012 alone there were around 600,000 of them). K1 honorary teachers are honorary teachers who were appointed as PNS teachers between 2005-2008. The status of K2 honorary teachers has never been fully resolved, creating a ripple effect to this day.
Minister Tjahjo explained that in order to fulfill the need for menial workers such as cleaning workers and security guards, outsourcing is recommended and paid under general expenses, not salary expenses. This is acceptable for low-skilled workers in government agencies but for educational institutions (teachers) and health agencies (nurses) these are roles that require certain competencies, so they should not be outsourced. If the regulation bars the recruitment of honorary staff, it also applies to honorary teachers, and this will create a teacher crisis nationwide, because many PNS teachers are retiring, recruitment of PPKK teachers is lagging, and recruitment of honorary teachers is no longer allowed. Teacher crisis will lead to a national education crisis. Who will teach the students if the three types of teachers — PNS teachers, PPPK teachers, and honorary teachers — are in short supply?
The short-term solution that the government can do is to offer non-teaching civil servants to become PNS teachers in their respective regions, given: (1) the national budget (APBN) is limited, so it is unable to massively employ new teachers in a short time; on the other hand, there are too many civil servants in a range of ministries/agencies and they are less productive; (2) the recruitment of PPPK teachers is very slow, in contrary to the promise of Education and Culture Minister when he took office; (3) The teaching force needs a job security to be able to do their job properly.