Expert for the petitioner Rudiyanto to give statement in the judicial review hearing of Law Number 14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers on Monday (4/3) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

Teachers of young children are not isolated in a closed space because they have vast interactions, both in and out of school. Therefore, they are role models for their students, in terms of the way they dress to their speech, which is not limited to the school. That was conveyed by the West Java Committee of Educators and Education Personnel of Indonesian Early Childhood (PW HIPAUDI) Rudiyanto as expert presented by Petitioner Anisa Rosadi in the judicial review of Law Number 14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers in conjunction with Law Number 20 of 2003 on the National Education System on Monday (4/3/019).

Therefore, Rudiyanto added, teachers have a great role in the education of young children, including in building a creative environment for students that are not limited by the learning models in school. in order to ensure it, an ECE (PAUD) teacher must have the competencies to develop the children’s learning and potentials, such as academic degree, children education specialization, and competency certifivation. “So, teacher of young children is a professional position whose attitudes and knowledge in performing the duties must have standards,” Rudiyanto explained before the hearing presided over by Chief Justice Anwar Usman.

Rudiyanto believes that the curricula of formal and non-formal ECE are not different, both in terms of contents and indicators. Therefore, in terms of components, the two types of ECE do not differ except in the services of children’s developmental stages.

Role of ECE

In the hearing, PGA PAUD lecturer of the State University of Medan Anita Yus as another expert for the petitioner in the paper entitled “Child Pedagogy and Development” described ECE as a concept that describes the educational programs at the beginning of preschool year. Although its name varies, ECE services are not different from one another because the education is essentially designed for optimal development of children. According to Anita, the golden age of child development is highly important in the development of children’s brains in maximizing their future potentials. Teachers are one of the prerequisite for quality ECE because they are the ones implementing the learning principles that children need.

“So, the teacher’s role is to help children grow and develop in building their individual foundation. Therefore, teachers must have knowledge, positive attitude, and competency in implementing education for young children, which in the end will best facilitate children’s development,” Anita explained in response to petition No. 2/PUU-XVII/2019.

In the previous hearing, the Petitioner had argued that Article 1 number 1 and Article 2 paragraph (1) of the Teacher and Lecturer Law had violated her constitutional rights because it only recognizes educators in formal ECE as teachers, while educators in non-formal ECE are not recognized legally as teachers. As a result, the Petitioner does not have a guarantee to develop competencies such as teacher certification and welfare benefits such as basic salary, functional allowances, and other special benefits. The Petitioner argued that her constitutional loss was only related to the Teachers and Lecturers Law, which had eliminated the guarantee of work and decent livelihood for her. Therefore, through the petitum, the Petitioner requested that the Court declare Article 1 number (1) and Article 2 paragraph (1) of Law Number 14 of 2015 on Teachers and Lecturers contrary to the 1945 Constitution and not legally binding insofar as it is not interpreted as “including Early Childhood Education in non-formal channels."

Before concluding the hearing, Justice Anwar informed that the next session was scheduled for Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 11.00 a.m. to hear the statements of experts for the Petitioner and the Government. (Sri Pujianti/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)