Teacher certification in Indonesia: a strategy for teacher quality improvement

This publication outlines the manner in which the teacher certification process mandated by the law on teachers and lecturers, was developed and is currently being implemented. It is an historical record of the events which took place over the three years from December 2005 to December 2008 and the impact of these events on education agencies and structures in Indonesia. The enactment of the teacher law took place against a backdrop of concern for the quality of education in Indonesia and in a context in which the roles of a number of teacher training agencies and structures were under review. Because of its comprehensive nature, the law will have a significant impact on many of these agencies and many of the policies currently in place. The manner in which these future polices may develop is addressed. This document examines the status of teachers at the time of the introduction of the teacher law: their quality, salary levels, and other available incentives. To some extent, it describes a poorly paid and ineffectively managed teaching service, both at the district and school level. The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) show evidence of poor overall student performance, which has implications regarding the quality of teaching. Attempts in the past to deal with this situation through salary increases, professional development courses and improvement in training, promotion possibilities, and other strategies are examined but found to have largely failed to achieve their goals, partly because they have been conceived and implemented in a piecemeal fashion. Only the teacher law has attempted to address the issue comprehensively by linking a varied range of strategies to the powerful incentive of a significant salary increase.