Teacher competence and professionalism play an important role in the
success of student learning. As long as the government does not
prioritise improving the quality of teachers or mapping the competence
of teachers, it is difficult to imagine that the quality of education in
Indonesia will improve.Internationally recognised teacher training programmes
One of the evaluation tools used in measuring teacher competence in
Indonesia is the Teacher Competence Test (UKG). This test assesses
mastery of pedagogic competence; the ability of teachers to manage a
class and prepare learning strategies for students; professional
competence; teachers’ mastery of the material; and the ability to
evaluate learning.
Based on the results of the 2015 UKG Test, the average teacher
competence scores from primary to high school are quite alarming.
Nationally, the national average teacher scores are 40.14 (primary
school), 44.16 (middle school), and 45.38 (high school). These scores
are below the minimum standard set for the year, which was 55. Last
year, the minimum standard was raised to 75.
Although the UKG cannot be the only indicator of teacher competence, its
result still indicates that many teachers in Indonesia have not
attained the minimum competence required to facilitate quality
learning—in spite of the fact that prospective teachers must attend a
professional education programme for one year after completing
undergraduate education.
In a study done by Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE)
Programme in Indonesia in 2018, my colleagues and I found that only
12.43 percent of primary school teachers thought they had mastered
literacy and 21.27 percent thought they had mastered numeracy. Last
year, this study conducted a self-perception survey of 360 primary
school teachers—graduates of Primary School Teacher Education who
attended the Teacher Professional Education (PPG) Programme for one
year, in-class—in seven universities in Java that hosted education
programme. Teachers who participated in the survey had had teaching
experience of six months to five years. They are a sample of 2,449
primary school teachers across Indonesia who participated in the
programme at 43 universities.
If teachers are not competent in teaching literacy and numeracy at the
primary level, it is not surprising that the achievement of Indonesian
students in various national and international assessment programmes is
in the bottom rank. In the 2015 Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA), for instance, the average math score of Indonesian
students was 386--below the average math score of students from 72 PISA
participating countries, which was 490.
What the government has done to improve teacher competence
In the current system, both beginner and experienced teachers take the
same development and training programme with types of training that
often overlap.
To improve teacher competence, the government organises Teacher
Professional Education (PPG) and Continuing Professional Development
(PKB) programmes. By participating in those additional education
programmes, teachers will get the opportunity to learn the various
competences needed to become professional educators.
In 2017, the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education
designed two types of PPG based on the targeted groups: pre-service and
in-service PPG programme (PPG prajabatan and PPG dalam jabatan,
respectively).
The only way for a teacher to obtain a professional educator certificate
is to attend the PPG programme. PPG displaces the educator
certification programme, which uses portfolio collection or teacher
professional education and training (PLPG). Teachers will undergo
workshops and internships at a school by making use of their pedagogical
competence, content knowledge, communication skill, and character
development as professional educators.
The two-semester pre-service PPG programme is intended for novice
teacher candidates or inexperienced teachers, and is carried out
in-class. Meanwhile, the one-semester PPG programme is for in-service
teachers or teachers who have taught in private or state schools, and is
conducted by integrating online and in-class learning method. PPG is
mandatory for teachers with bachelor’s degree from teacher colleges as
well as non-teacher colleges.
The implementation of PPG is not without polemics and has become the
talk among academics and practitioners of education. The PPG programme
is deemed ineffective for teachers who have undergone teacher training
education in college because the materials are merely a repetition of
the courses they have obtained in college. With the current model of
teacher education, the implementation of regular teacher education and
the PPG programme is as though separated.
In the Continuing Professional Development (PKB) programme, the majority
of participants are teachers who have obtained professional
certification. By participating in a 60-hour PKB education and training
programme, teachers are encouraged to improve their capacities in
mastering the skills of pedagogy and subject area.
Given that the majority of PKB participants already have professional
educator certificates, ultimately, such development design is simply a
refreshment of the materials which teachers have previously obtained in
college; it has also been failing to develop teacher competence
continuously.
Findings of the 2018 RISE study show that despite participating in the
PKB training, many teachers were still incapable of meeting the minimum
competence standard.
