Honorary Teachers Deny Five-day School (LHS)

Republika, page 9

The Head of the Category Two Honorary Teachers Forum Indonesia, Titi Purbaningsih, expressed her disappointment with the application of a five-day school week (LHS) as stipulated by the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud). From her viewpoint, with a full-day school system, it will be difficult for honorary teachers to augment their income from other sources besides teaching.

According to Titi, if Kemendikbud created the LHS policy in the belief that civil servant (PNS) teachers have an excessive workload, then this is just not true. In fact, what actually happens in the field is that around 60 percent of PNS teachers’ duties are handled by honorary teachers. Therefore, Titi’s expectations of the government are improved welfare for honorary teachers through the provision of better life security to match such teachers’ contributions.

On Tuesday (13/6), Kemendikbud formally legalized Permendikbud Number 23 Year 2017 concerning School Day, which provides for a five-day school week. The background of such policy refers to the work day policy of State Civil Apparatus (ASN) that is a five-day work and to strengthen the character of students.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Executive Board of Teachers of the Republic of Indonesia (PB PGRI), Unifah Rasyidi, also requested the government to take into account a number of points before stipulating the LHS policy. Besides the facilities and infrastructure of schools, varying geographical conditions between the different regions also becomes a consideration. Thus if preparations aren’t properly carried out and such matters considered, various negative reactions could well arise when the LHS policy is implemented.