Asking Teachers to be Better

Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim\'s speech for National Teacher\'s Day on Nov. 25, 2019, attracted the attention of the public, especially education stakeholders.

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim

After mentioning some of the obstacles faced by teachers, Nadiem invited teachers to make changes to realize freedom of learning. Teachers were asked to take the first step and not to wait for orders. Various public responses emerged, both optimistic, pessimistic, and cynical, about Nadiem\'s speech. A cynical impression came from the general chairperson of the Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI), Unifah Rosyidi. According to Unifah, the speech was not something new because the PGRI had repeatedly spoken of the issues conveyed by the minister.

"Even the President has spoken about them many times. We are waiting for Pak Nadiem to make a review. That will have meaning. As long as he does not conduct a review, there will be no meaning," Unifah said, as quoted by the media. The PGRI\'s stance is understandable because for decades various educational policies have not had substantive impacts on the qualitative of teacher performance. Law No. 20/2003 on the National Education System (Sisdiknas), which states that there be a minimum education budget of 20 percent of the APBN (state budget) and APBD (regional budget) in addition to teacher salaries and official education costs, has been annulled by the Constitutional Court.