Students’ Perception of Elementary School Teachers’ Competency: Indonesian Education Sustainability

Abstract

The 2013 curriculum in Indonesia demands teacher competence. The professional development of teachers will support the achievement of the 2013 curriculum objectives. The purpose of this study is to describe and compare the competencies of primary school teachers by region, school accreditation, and school status. For this study, we used a comparative quantitative approach. We distributed a questionnaire to 1281 randomly selected elementary school students. The data analysis included a statistical description analysis, normality and homogeneity tests, and hypothesis testing. The findings revealed that (1) the average value of teacher competency in urban-area teachers was higher than that of rural-area teachers, (2) the average competency score of teachers in C-accredited schools was higher than that of teachers in unaccredited and B-accredited schools, and (3) the average score of teachers in private schools was higher than that of teachers in public schools. Thus, the results of this study show that differences exist in the competence of school teachers by region, school accreditation, and school status. Based on these findings, we suggest that all primary school teachers must continuously increase their competence to more effectively help students enhance their skills.