Chairman of the Golkar Party faction of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Melchias Markus Mekeng, said that cross-ministerial synergy is needed to seriously resolve the issue of non-State Civil Apparatus or honorary teachers, especially since the constitution has regulated the constitutional rights of citizens to work and a decent living.
"We hope the government will take the honorary teacher issue seriously, as resolving the honorary teacher problem cannot be the responsibility of just one ministry," Mekeng said in South Tangerang, Banten.
According to him, in realizing the constitutional rights of honorary teachers, synergy is needed between the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education , the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology , the Ministry of Finance , the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform.
Mekeng explained that there are at least four main problems related to teaching staff and education personnel with non-ASN status.
First, he said, there is a budget paradox between the politics of the state budget (APBN) and welfare.
"Why hasn't the 20 percent education budget significantly improved the welfare of honorary teachers, lecturers, and other educational staff? Where is the allocation of this budget if their salaries in the regions only amount to hundreds of thousands of rupiah per month?" he asked.
Second, there is a dualism in the legal status of honorary teachers, namely between workers and educators.
According to him, this condition creates a legal loophole so that honorary teachers are not optimally protected, both in the Employment Law and the Teachers and Lecturers Law.
Third, Mekeng highlighted regional autonomy. "There seems to be a 'ping-pong' between the responsibilities of the central government (Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Ministry of Education and Technology, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform) and regional governments regarding the appointment and salaries of PPPK," he said.
Fourth, the selection scheme for Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK) is considered not to have taken into account length of service proportionally compared to cognitive test scores.
In response to this problem, Mekeng stated that the government, through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, needs to provide more concrete affirmative policies to address employee status, improve welfare, and protect the teaching profession.
