Teacher's distribution in Gorontalo

It’s been 22 years since Gorontalo Province independently governs its own area. Yet, Gorontalo’s education system is still underdeveloped for many years. Gross Enrollment Rate keeps decreasing at each education level. Only 87,97 high school-age children enroll in senior high school, and only 37,32 of them go on to college (BPS Provinsi Gorontalo, 2022, p. 122).

The government has not invested enough resources into the education sector, resulting in poor infrastructure and insufficient resources for students and teachers. Additionally, the quality of teaching in Gorontalo is generally poor, and there is a lack of qualified teachers. 

The head of the provincial education office said there are 2.335 permanent teachers for high school, vocational school, and special needs school. But they’re helped by 1.515 contract teachers and 326 newly recruited government contract teachers (PPPK). There are 1.657 vacancies for this PPPK teacher open until 2022. The fact that many teachers fail to secure PPPK seats says a lot about the local talents.

The other problem addressed by The head of the provincial education office is the distribution teacher. There is no easy answer when it comes to the distribution of teachers. It is hard to control how many teachers are located in each district. Many teachers apply for a mutation outside Gorontalo (also into Gorontalo City), causing teacher shortages in some districts.

The stagnant teacher’s supply is real. As the government delayed permanent government teacher (ASN teacher) selection for the past 10 years, the number has decreased. As old teachers enter retirement age, the school needs to hire contract teachers to keep the school going. It happens in some districts. While another district has a surplus.

The best way to solve this problem is to work together with the teachers and the district officials to come up with a plan that is fair and benefits everyone involved. These findings should be used in the work meeting between Commission X DPR RI and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. There is a great need to urge educational development outside Java island to ensure every children's access to education. Every child deserves the opportunity to receive a quality education, which can only be accomplished through the acceleration of educational development in these areas.