500 Teacher Candidates for the Central Highlands of Papua

On Monday, April 12, 2021, the Education and Teaching Office of Lanny Jaya Regency, Papua Province, announced the results of the selection of the Lanny Jaya native contract teachers (OAL). About 500 contract teacher candidates passed the selection. They will be placed in 69 SD and 154 TK / Paud in all districts and villages in Lanny Jaya Regency.

The policy was taken, according to the Head of the Lanny Jaya District Education and Teaching Agency, Tan Wanimbo, as a form of the Lanny Jaya Regency Government's concern for the world of education and overcoming unemployment for Lanny Jaya's native children.

Lanny Jaya Regency is a district in Papua Province, which was formed on January 4, 2008, along with the establishment of several other districts in Papua, namely Mamberamo Tengah, Yalimo, and Nduga. This district is the result of the division of the main district, Jayawijaya.

According to Wanimbo, the policy of contracting a native Lanny Jaya child as a teacher was the idea of ​​Lanny Jaya Regent Befa Yigibalom, who wanted an increase in quality in the world of education. They will be placed in the village or district where these scholars come from. They come from 39 districts, 353 villages and one sub-district in Lanny Jaya.

Wanimbo admitted that conditions in the field were indeed all elementary and kindergarten / early childhood schools experiencing a shortage of teachers. However, they realized that these scholars were not from teacher education, so the office would cooperate with competent parties to conduct training for the original Lanny Jaya contract teachers who had been accepted.

The issue of a shortage of teachers in Papua, especially in the Central Highlands, has been around for a long time. To overcome this, a number of district heads took the initiative to cooperate with institutions from outside Papua. For example, Jayapura Regent Mathius Awoitauw collaborated with the Smart Indonesia Foundation by contracting around 400 contract teachers. In fact, in a number of places, the education office collaborates with the TNI and Polri to teach classes.

Head of the Papua Province Education, Libraries and Archives Office Christian Sohilait said the Papua Provincial Government has proposed 1,400 formations for teacher recruitment under the PPPK scheme this year. They also asked the government to recruit 3,527 pure honorary teachers.
 
Meanwhile, in the conclusion of a discussion in a WA group, "Education in the Central Mountains (Papua)" which was disseminated by Agus Sumule, a lecturer at the State University of Papua, it was revealed that the population of the Central Highlands region of Papua is 49.28% of the total population of Papua.

However, the condition of education is inversely proportional to that percentage. In 2018, there were only 874 primary schools (34.83%) of the total 2,509 primary schools in Papua Province. For SMP only 229 (34.13%), only 66 for SMA (28.82%), and for SMK only 25 (18.25%).

Not only are the number of education units (PAUD to SMA / SMK) far less, the number of teachers is far from adequate. In 2019, it is estimated that in the Central Mountains there will be a shortage of 6,007 teachers - including those who will retire in the next five years, starting from that year.

The number of teachers that is lacking will increase even more, or approximately 9,000 teachers, if about 120,000 school-age population who do not attend KPT, are given the opportunity to receive education.

This topic was discussed in the whatsapp education group in the Central Mountains, since March 24, 2021. There were 154 participants in this group. They come from various backgrounds: practitioners / teachers, pioneers, government officials, observers, academics, education science professors, students, businessmen, politicians, community leaders, religious leaders, and many others.

"Apart from exchanging data and information as well as ideas within the group, two virtual discussions were also held," said Agus Sumule.

The conclusion from the discussion in this group is that the fastest way to meet the shortage of teachers in the Central Highlands of Papua is to organize pre-service Teacher Professional Education (PPG), as regulated in Permendikbud number 87 of 2013. Graduates of various undergraduate / D4 study programs in the field of science, especially undergraduate / graduate diploma program D4 from KPT, can be educated to become professional teachers through this pre-service PPG program.

Higher education institutions that have teacher training and education programs in Papua, whether private or public, including religion, can be given the responsibility of organizing PPG. Some of them have been PPG organizers.

It is not easy to obtain a license as a PPG organizer. There are a number of strict requirements that interested colleges must meet. Not only that, S1 / D4 graduates who are interested in becoming professional teachers through PPG must also pass a rigorous selection to enable a person to have a number of competencies and qualifications that apply nationally.

In this regard, it is necessary to fight for a kind of affirmation PPG program for Papua land to the relevant directorate general at the Ministry of Education and Culture. This affirmative PPG can be carried out for more than two semesters, so that the graduates really meet the qualifications and competencies required for every professional teacher.

For this reason, the education office in the district government in the Central Mountains and the Provincial Government of Papua, supported by the relevant universities, needs to compile an academic text for the establishment of affirmative PPG to be fought for and obtain permission from the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Meanwhile, teachers who are dedicated, 'resilient', able to immerse themselves in the culture of the community, and have a servant character can be produced by involving religious institutions in the recruitment and coaching process as long as the professional teacher candidates are educated at PPG Affirmation.

Funds for recruiting and training teachers are available in the APBD of each district in the Central Highlands. In fact, there should also be funds available to build housing facilities and a support system for them so that they can live well and properly in remote villages.

Almost all districts in the Central Highlands have APBD of more than Rp1 trillion per year. There are even more than IDR 1.5 trillion. Only two of the 14 districts in the Central Highlands have APBD of less than Rp900 billion.

"If the 14 district governments in the Central Highlands are willing to pay tuition fees for prospective teachers and monthly allowances during the study period at PPG, affirmation, and the need is spread over five years, only one district needs to spend more than 0.5% of the APBD- his. The other thirteen districts only need to allocate less than 0.5% of their APBD, ”said Agus Sumule.

SOURCE: https://indonesia.go.id/kategory/editorial/2723/500-calon-guru-untuk-p gunung-tengah-papua