Muhammad Asrun testifying as the Petitioners’ expert at a material judicial review hearing of Law No. 12 of 2012 on Higher Education, Wednesday (3/13/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Government must set a lower salary limit for private (PTS) lecturers that is above the regional minimum wage (UMR), said law professor of the graduate school of Pakuan University Muhammad Asrun, who testified as expert for case No. 135/PUU-XXI/2023 on the material judicial review of Article 70 paragraph (3) Law No. 12 of 2012 on Higher Education.

“The state should be present by setting the minimum wage for lecturers that is above the UMR, given that [one of] the requirements for lecturers is a graduate degree and there is an obligation to pursue a doctoral degree, which is not cheap,” he said at a hearing on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 in the Constitutional Court’s (MK) plenary courtroom.

He asserted that the Government must immediately set a lower salary limit for lecturers with the lowest amount being a certain percentage above the UMR by as a basis for salaries for different qualifications. He believes the salaries of private lecturers should not only be at the provincial UMR but must cover for a decent life for personal and academic activities.

The revenue of education providers that are under foundations is relatively good, as seen from developments of infrastructure. However, increase in salaries and incentives for lecturers, which should be done regularly, does not happen. Therefore, the Government needs to conduct governance and financial audits to ensure the ability of education provider foundations to meet lecturer salary standards following applicable regulations, including avoiding deviant practices related to relations between practitioners and professional work providers.

Asrun also said the Government must ensure that regulations be followed, with various alternative sanctions ranging from a deadline for cash flow adjustments to meet salary standards, mergers, and consolidation with foundations with similar profiles. Most importantly, it should not delay the payment of lecturer certification incentives, research allowances, professorship allowances, and investment and development.

“I understand the Government’s obligation to allocate 20 percent of the state budget (APBN) or regional budget (APBD) to include the salaries of state lecturers, but not the salaries of private lecturers. However, through the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, it should provide incentives for all university lecturers including private ones, with the periodical and on-time lecturer certification allowance or research allowance,” Asrun said.

He also emphasized that financial allowances for lecturers are not just for survival, such as salaries to cover living expenses and transportation to campus. This is because lecturers also have an obligation to conduct research and publish papers in national journals and publish books on the results of their research, which requires a lot of funding.

“If a lecturer receives research funding, the accountability report is too detailed and complicated, so it becomes an obstacle for lecturers. In fact, not all research expenditures can be proven by written proof of expenditure, such as ‘for drinking coffee at street vendors,’” he added.

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Asrun testified as the Petitioners’ expert in the case concerning education providers’ obligation to provide basic salaries and allowances to lecturers and academic staff. Private lecturers Teguh Satya Bhakti and Fahmi Bachmid argue that the imposition of the obligation to provide the basic salaries of private lecturers only to education providers clearly has an impact on the inequality/disparity of the basic salaries of private lecturers. It not only occurs between private and state lecturers, but also among private lecturers. Private institutions under education providers having high financial resources and located in areas with high minimum wages will certainly provide high basic salaries to their lecturers.

For the sake of justice and equality, the Petitioners request that the Court declare the phrase “in accordance with the statutory laws and regulations” in Article 70 paragraph (3) of the Higher Education Law is unconstitutional and not legally binding insofar as it is not interpreted to mean “The management body as referred to in paragraph (2) shall provide base salaries and allowances for lecturers and teaching personnel with funds generated from the National Budget and/or Regional Budget.”

Author         : Mimi Kartika
Editor          : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR               : Tiara Agustina
Translator     : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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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