"Across Indonesia, there is a shortage of 520 thousand teachers in 2015. Some 400 thousand more will enter the retirement period," Chairman of the Indonesian Teacher Association (PGRI) Sulistyo said.Batam, Riau Island (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is currently facing a shortage of 520 thousand teachers, and the number is expected to increase further when several thousand of them will retire during the 2018-2023 period in line with a presidential instruction.
"Across Indonesia, there is a shortage of 520 thousand teachers in 2015. Some 400 thousand more will enter the retirement period," Chairman of the Indonesian Teacher Association (PGRI) Sulistyo stated here on Tuesday.
The teachers entering the retirement period between 2018 and 2023 had been hired under a presidential instruction (Inpres), he stated.
"In 1974 and 1975, large number of Inpres teachers retired, and the highest number will be between 2018 and 2023," Sulistyo, who is concurrently a lawmaker, noted.
He believes that the government is not taking serious steps to recruit new teachers to anticipate the mass retirement of teachers.
Deputy Chairman of Committee III of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) Hardi Selamat Hood has urged the government to soon recruit new teachers to ensure the sustainability of education for children.
Head of the Riau Island Education Office Yatim Mustafa affirmed that around one thousand teachers in the province will enter the retirement period in 2018.
The local authorities have adopted several measures to anticipate a crisis in teacher numbers. The province has granted scholarships to university students to become teachers.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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