Five Day School System, Teachers’ Work Hours Increase

Koran Sindo, page 2

The implementation of a five-day school system will have an impact on a change in teachers’ working hours. If previously teachers are only given a workload of 24 hours per week, now they must meet 40 hours per week. Director General of Teachers and Education Personnel, Sumarna Surapranata confirmed that there are changes of teachers’ workload. The change to 40 hours will be incorporated in the Government Regulation No. 19/2017.

However, according to Sumarna the 40 hours per week is not only calculated from direct in-class teaching alone. Break time will also be counted as part of the 40 hours. Most importantly, teachers should stay in school for 40 hours to plan, implement/face to face teaching, assessing, guiding, and performing additional tasks.

According to Sumarna, as long as the teachers do not leave school by continuing to conduct intra-curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities; he also added it is their right to receive teacher professional allowance (TPG).  Sumarna said that the fulfillment of 40 work hours for teachers is actually not too difficult. Therefore, the calculation of 40 hours of work is not only from teaching hours, but can also be taken from their activities as members of teacher organizations, professional development, and official duties.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Board of the Indonesian Teachers Association (PB PGRI) Unifah Rosyidi said that the 40-hour policy with the reasoning to help the teachers and in compliance with the State Civil Service Administration (ASN) is absolutely not true.  According to her, the revision of PP 74 to PP 19 would actually repress teachers. Unifah said that teachers as educators and professionals are now precisely positioned as an ASN whose workload is much heavier.  In making policy, Kemendikbud should be able to prioritize dialogues to all stakeholders, especially teacher organizations.