Watatita: Please, Sir, May I Have Some More?
All the violence, criminal activities and poverty that people are experiencing in this country is the result of the lack of good quality education that is accessible to everyone. However, the process of fixing and reorganizing the whole Indonesian education system may be extremely long. It is indeed a difficult process. I don't mean to be cynical and negative, but let's be realistic.
People still complain about the low quality of our teachers. OK, but before you judge, there are some things you should be aware of. Did you know that across Indonesia, honorary teachers earn Rp 75,000 to Rp 300,000 per month? It stays that way even if they've been teaching for the past 20 years. Sometimes, even though they're only paid to teach a certain number of classes, they are required to teach extra classes and do administrative work.
If you've lived your life knowing since you were young that you wanted to share your knowledge with people, you work hard and you finish your studies to be a teacher, would you still want to teach if you got paid a maximum of Rp 300,000 a month? This salary is even lower than laborers, and to do manual labor it is not a necessity to have a good education – unlike a teacher.
How are we going to have quality teachers, especially in rural areas, when honorary teachers earn so little? Why would you even bother being a good teacher or even study hard to become a teacher when your efforts don't add up in the end?
Indonesian Corruption Watch noted that education was the most corrupt sector in 2011. Last year, 436 corruption cases in the education sector were reported. Back in 2009, Rp 1.1 trillion was supposed to be given to the East Java administration for education but only Rp 357 billion was received and managed by the local government. These people who steal the money are wealthy enough to send their children to study in Europe or America, while the rest of the country receives inadequate teachers and facilities.
As promised, Syawal Gultom, the leader of the Board of Development and the Guarantee of Educational Quality, said that in 2012 the board would focus a lot more on upgrading teacher quality. They will make sure teachers have at least a bachelor's degree or are appropriately certified. We really do hope that this goes smoothly.
As I sit here writing this article, I feel a little confused. Usually, I try to offer a suggestion for some kind of way out, however for this one, frankly I'm stuck.
For people who want to stop being corrupt, nobody else can fix you but yourself. It's like an addiction, when you want to be clean of drugs or alcohol, it has to come from within yourself. The world is so full of people with planet-sized egos and greed. Don't people realize that corruption causes imbalance? This imbalance causes suffering, and thus we don't develop into a better country. Ah, yes of course, corrupt officials don't care about that, do they?
Even though we are so far away from a decent education sector, I want to keep it positive. As long as the children in this country maintain their love of learning and discovery, we can build Indonesia into a better country for the future.
Milis Wanita Muslimah
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