Chronic Absenteeism in Indonesia's Classrooms: 'Hey, Teacher, Don't Leave them Kids Alone!'
Will Mackey | April 08, 2013
"We're here, but where is the professor?" is a common question at Medan State University, and when I asked it to one of my classmates, he simply shrugged his shoulders. "It's usual," he said. "You'll get used to it."
Unfortunately, he was right. During that first week of classes, many of our professors did not show up, and for one class, the professor did not appear for three weeks in a row.
Getting increasingly frustrated, I asked my classmates what our professors were doing.
Some are just being lazy, they said, and some others are working outside of the state university (Unimed), teaching at private universities where the wages are higher.
For the students, though, teacher and professor absenteeism is normal. Throughout their educational careers, professors and teachers have been skipping class.
And it's not just in Medan. According to one study conducted by USAID, on any given day twenty-one percent of Indonesian teachers do not show up for class. An appallingly high rate, particularly since, as the study notes, teacher absenteeism "directly" impacts "the attendance and achievement of" their students.
While most university students do not care if their professors show up or not, there are a few that do. However, those few cannot do anything to change their professors' ways.
Many students say if a student challenges a professor — about the professor's attendance record, for example — that student can be penalized. The professor can lower his or her grades or, more commonly, refuse to meet with the student if he or she needs help with a thesis.
Students also talk about black lists. While the existence of these, which supposedly list the names of students who challenge their professors, is questionable, the very idea of them terrifies students.
Not surprisingly, considering all the risks — lowered grades, inability to meet with professors, the rumored black lists — students prefer to remain silent.
They do not question professors' absenteeism. Students certainly do not go to the rector to demand professors be held accountable for their actions or, in this case, lack thereof.
Indeed, they don't say anything to anyone. They are too nervous. They do not want to be thought of as troublemakers. Because if they are, they worry that they will not be able to get a good recommendation and or a good job after graduation.
Most worryingly, Unimed is a teacher-training university, so after graduating most Unimed students become public school teachers.
But what type of teachers do they become? Dedicated ones, showing up for their classes? Or ones who skip them? Unfortunately, the latter seems more realistic. For their entire academic careers — from primary school through university — Unimed students have sat in teacherless classes, and it has taken a toll.
They now see teacher absenteeism as the norm, not the exception. Later on, after becoming teachers, that attitude will not just disappear. It will persist, allowing them to justify their own absenteeism. It's a vicious cycle no one is addressing, and it is not getting any better.
Already, because of teacher and professor absenteeism, Indonesia's educational system is falling behind. In a 2006 study, published in Education Economics, researchers found that in Indonesia "higher teacher absence significantly correlates with lower student scores" in mathematical tests.
Unfortunately, not much has improved of late. In a 2012 study, the Global Index of Cognitive Skills and Educational Attainment which ranks 40 countries based on a combination of international test results and literacy and graduation rates, Indonesia tied for last place.
The studies' findings were not surprising, though. Particularly considering Indonesia's teacher and professor absenteeism, it is no wonder Indonesian students are behind their foreign peers. While students elsewhere are busy taking notes, Indonesian students are playing with laptops and phones.
Despite the ominous signs, there is cause for optimism. While there are unprofessional teachers and professors who do not show up for their classes, many others do.
They care about their students and work hard, trying to educate Indonesia's younger generations. Some of them even volunteer to teach outside the classroom. In Medan, for instance, a group of young teachers has started an afterschool program, so they can help Indonesian children from lower-income families with their English and math skills.
Those teachers are, admittedly, extraordinary, and Indonesia needs more like them. But more importantly, Indonesia needs its teachers and professors to simply show up. Indonesian schools and universities need to take steps to ensure that happens.
If it does not, Indonesian students are not the only ones facing a bleak future. Their country is as well.
Will Mackey is an American studying at Medan State University. The views expressed are his own.
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