November 1, 2025 | 02:53 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Coordinator of the Advocacy Field for the Association of Education and Teachers (P2G), Iman Zanatul Haeri, criticized the policy of increasing incentives for honorary teachers in Indonesia by only Rp100,000 per month. He claims that the policy fails to address teacher welfare, particularly for madrasa teachers, who have not received the promised incentive aid since last year.
"An increase of Rp100,000 is the price of bread in Los Angeles. Compared to the free nutritious meal program (MBG), it is only equivalent to one MBG meal per day, that is, if it's not poisoned," said Iman when contacted on Friday, October 31, 2025.
Iman said the incentive aid, referred to as a "presidential gift," will be distributed in seven months. This does not align with the government's promise to provide the incentive for one year. "A total of Rp2.1 million, deducted with taxes, becomes Rp1.9 million. Whereas it should be for a full year, 12 months, or around Rp3.6 million," he said.
He stated that, of the approximately 40 madrasa teachers at his institution, only five have received the incentive. "I myself have not received it until now," said Iman.
Iman assessed that the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) is not serious about distributing incentive aid to madrasa teachers. "The Minister of Religious Affairs is cruel and lacks empathy for madrasa teachers. There are still many teachers who have not received their incentive aid," he said.
He explained that madrasa teachers are further disadvantaged by the differences in distribution mechanisms between the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
"In Kemendikdasmen, teachers just need to open the website, print the registration certificate, then go to the bank and receive the aid. But in Kemenag, teachers open the website, download the request letter, and then it's unclear when it will be disbursed," Iman explained.
He also regretted the appearance of a waqf donation advertisement on the Education Management Information System (EMIS) Kemenag application, the official platform for madrasa teachers to apply for aid. "It's highly unethical. Teachers open the application to check for undistributed incentive aid, but instead they are greeted with a waqf donation advertisement," he said.
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