"We are improving the mental aspects and academic skills of teachers simultaneously," Effendy said here on Friday.
With regard to professionalism, teachers are expected to improve and sharpen their skills.
"Teachers should strengthen social responsibility as teaching is a calling," the minister remarked.
Teachers are encouraged to strengthen the solidarity to their colleagues in teachers associations.
"So, there will be specialization of each work according to their competency," the minister pointed out.
He said that the improvement of welfare could increase teachers competency and performance.
"The performance of teachers can be monitored based on the learning outcome of students," the minister said.
The government, through the Education and Culture Ministry, regulates teachers certification, which has increased the salaries of certified teachers. As an illustration, a level III civil servant teacher who has a basic salary of Rp 2.9 million (US$214) receives a certification salary of up to Rp 2.7 million , almost doubling their take-home pay. Teachers also receive another salary such as a regional allowance in some regions, including Jakarta.
He expected that the government could make a policy that manages allowance of teachers. Half of the allowance could be used to improve the performance of teachers through training and self-learning.
Today, Indonesia is celebrating the 71st year since teachers day was launched in 1945.
National Teachers Day was established by the President of Indonesia in 1994. His presidential decree was confirmed by the governmental act of regulation in 2005. The date of celebration was chosen to commemorate the anniversary of establishment of the Indonesian Teachers Association (Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia, PGRI).
On October 29, hundreds of Indonesian teachers participated in an educational program to study the Australian educational system at the University of Melbourne and work at several schools there, a press release issued on Saturday said.
The 136 Indonesian teachers studied the Australian educational system in a short course and taught at several Australian schools, said the press release from the Australian Embassy in Jakarta received here.
The three-week short course provided practical examples to the participants on how to apply for the educational system and shared experiences with fellow teachers after they had returned to their homeland.
The world-class Australian universities, polytechnics and schools made this country one of the main destinations for Indonesian students looking to study abroad.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
