Universities Face Crisis in Number of Lecturers

Republika, page 4

The number of lecturers in universities is far from ideal. The Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (Kemristekdikti) has even gone as far as to say that Indonesia faces a crisis in lecturers. The Director General of Science and Technology Resources of Kemristekdikti, Ali Ghufron Mukti, explained that lecturers are a vital component of the campus academic community. Whether a university is classed as either good or bad depends on the quality of its lecturers

Ghufron continued that in terms of lecturers, however, this point is less than positive as there are only 5,389 professors. Indonesia should have 22,000 professors to teach in universities, as this equates with the existing study programs (Prodi), which number around 23,000.

Meanwhile, Ghufron revealed that 34.933 lecturers were only certified with a bachelor degree (S1), whereas those who teach S1, D3, and D4 should at a minimum hold a master degree (S2). This stipulation is in accordance with UU Number 14 Year 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers. For doctoral (S3) level, there are 25,394 lecturers, instead of the required 30,000.

Ghufron also said that according to the data, some 1,200 to 2,000 lecturers retire each year. Looking six years ahead that means at least 9,000 lecturers will have retired. Meanwhile, there have never been replacements over the last three year. Ghufron added that Kemristekdikti is thus committed to increasing educational personnel or lecturers, and scientists through scholarship schemes for postgraduate degrees (S2 and S3).