The last half century has seen dramatic changes in the provision of education in ASEAN, empowering families and children, future citizens and workers. Policy makers regionally are agreed on the urgent need to improve teaching as a profession and teaching quality via improving recruitment, preparation, and career development of teachers. Increasingly, policy makers recognise the value of evidence-based policy making and are investing in data analytics and education research. They also now recognise the need to more systematically plan for and implement education reforms across all levels in the education system.

Through the enactment of the Teacher Law of 2005, the Indonesian government has shown that it is ready to make significant efforts to improve teacher quality and credentials. One noteworthy programme is the introduction of a two-semester Professional Teacher Training Programme (Pendidikan Profesi Guru – PPG). The programme requires both pre-service and in-service teachers to complete the PPG and attain the PPG certificate on top of their bachelor’s degree. As Teacher Education Institutions (Lembaga Pendidikan Tenaga Kependidik – LPTK) appointed by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (MORTHE), these LPTKs have autonomy to design and administer the PPG programme and competency tests for student teachers, and they have become key stakeholders in improving teacher quality.

Acknowledging how essential LPTKs and their PPG are in ensuring successful education reform, and the difficulties these LPTKs face, The HEAD Foundation, together with the World Bank, the Directorate General of Learning and Student Affairs (DGLSA) in Indonesia, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia, brought together participants from 11 LPTKs for a one-week Professional Learning Programme held in Singapore in October 2018.

This policy brief seeks to summarise the PLP sessions and provide insights on how LPTKs could navigate around the three challenges identified in the World Bank survey, especially in the preparation of teachers for mathematics and science subjects.

About this Policy Brief

This policy brief was written jointly by Professor S. Gopinathan, Academic Advisor of The HEAD Foundation and Ms Rachel Thng. This document is a synthesis of the discussions and presentations made during the Professional Learning Programme conducted in 2018 by The HEAD Foundation with the World Bank.