The judicial review hearing of Law No. 14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers presenting testimonies by the House of Representatives and the President, Monday (2/6/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Monday, February 6, 2023 | 14:36 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — Civil servant (PNS) lecturers on study leave (tubel) are dismissed from their functional positions as per Article 94 paragraph (1) letter d of the Government Regulation (PP) on PNS Management. As such, they no longer carry out their obligations as lecturers and, thus, do not receive their rights as stipulated in Law No. 14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers, said the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Regulatory Expert Staff for Education and Culture Chatarina Muliana Girsang on behalf of the Government at the material judicial review of the Teacher-Lecturer Law on Monday, February 6, 2023 in the Constitutional Court’s (MK) plenary courtroom.

This third session for case No. 111/PUU-XX/2022, presided over by Chief Justice Anwar Usman and the other eight constitutional justices, heard the House of Representatives (DPR) and the President/Government.

“Such legal consequences do not reduce the rights of civil servant lecturers on study leave, but are legal consequences of civil service that apply to other civil servants who are terminated from their positions. This legal consequence is important for civil servant lecturers who wish to take a study leave to understand. The Petitioners should have known that by taking a study leave, they had resigned from their positions as lecturers,” Girsang explained on site in the plenary courtroom.

Furthermore, she revealed that ‘professional duties’ referred to in Article 51 paragraph (1) of the Teacher-Lecturer Law can only be interpreted to be referred to active lecturers, who must focus on their students, colleagues, and the wider community following the three pillars of higher education.

Girsang added that, for a civil servant lecturer, study leave for formal education is part of competency development that has legal consequences, i.e. dismissal from their functional position. In the sense of the word, during a study leave, they are not holding their functional position. In order to be able to return to serve, she said, they must be re-appointed by the personnel supervisor officer (PPK) as per Article 94 paragraph (2) of the PP on PNS Management, except if they continue carrying out their duties while on study leave.

“It needs to be underlined that even though a civil servant lecturer does not receive allowances while on study leave, they earn other income and are entitled to other facilities to support their studies in the form of study assignment fees and other [funds],” she explained.

Also read: Suspension of Certification Allowance for Studying Lecturers Questioned

Stipulated by Ministerial Regulation

House Commission III Member Arsul Sani explained several technical provisions outlining the mechanism for allowances for lecturers, including the Regulation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Permendikbudristek) No. 27 of 2022 on Guidelines for Study Leave for PNS of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology; Permendikbudristek No. 20 of 2017 on the Provision of Professional Allowances for Lecturer and Professor Honorary Allowance, and the Circular of Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform No. 28 of 2021 on Competency Development for Civil Servants through Education.

The House also asserted that civil servant lecturers on study leave are actually given freed from their office duties. Thus, the Petitioners’ arguments are only assumptions, it insisted, because the basis for terminating temporary allowance is a technical matter, thus, such arguments are not for judicial review in the Constitutional Court.

Also read: Civil Servants Affirm Background to Petition on Lecturer Certification

Rights while on Study Leave

Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra requested that the Government provide a more complete explanation of things that a civil servant lecturer can and cannot receive while on study leave.

“Study leave comes with many restrictions, such as not being able to get promoted, not receiving certification allowances, not being assessed for their academic work. This should be food for thought for the Ministry of Education and Culture. Illustrate to the Court how much are given to them? How is study leave implemented where they teach? How is the implementation of his rights while on study leave?” he asked.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah said during a study leave, components of income are not given while these lecturers still carry out their teaching duties by giving lectures and even do assignment from their campus.

“Especially now that there are applications where lectures can be conducted online, can the Government make a matrix of what allowances are given to a lecturer, for example professional allowances, certification allowances, and what these allowances are intended for? And which of these allowances cannot be given to civil servant lecturers on study leave and what are the considerations?” he asked.

Next, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih asked the Government to explain other ministries’ standards of allowances for civil servant lecturers on study leave. “What measures are used, for example, health and welfare insurance for teachers and lecturers? What are the parameters in implementing Article 51 paragraph (1) of the Teacher-Lecturer Law?” she asked.

Before adjourning the session, Chief Justice Anwar Usman announced that the hearing would resume on Monday, February 20, 2023 to hear testimonies of 3 experts and 2 witnesses for the Government. He reminded the Government that CVs and written permission from supervisor of the experts who are civil servants must be submitted no later than two days before the next hearing.

The Petitioners argued that the a quo article was implemented as temporary suspension of payment of professional allowances for lecturers from 2009 to 2022. As a result, the Petitioners lost their financial rights while pursuing further studies at a number of higher education institutions in Indonesia while taking study leave. This interpretation is not based on the best interests of lecturers taking study leave, especially those who are currently or will be pursuing further studies at their own expenses entirely or partially or on a scholarship even though they still have some workload for their position. Ideally, as long as they have workload for their lecturing position, they deserve lecturer certification allowances.

Therefore, they requested that the Court grant the petition and declare Article 51 paragraph (1) of the Teacher-Lecturer Law along the phrase “in carrying out professional duties” unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted to mean “in carrying out professional duties, also includes lecturers taking study leave.”

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : M. Halim
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 2/8/2023 10:50 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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