•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

In the Indonesian education scene, the debate over whether students can more effectively learn English with a local teacher or a native English-speaking one has long been a divisive issue.

As more Indonesian students study abroad and return home fluent in English, education analysts are increasingly making the case that schools no longer need to have native English speakers.

Their advice hinges partly on concerns that some teachers at the country’s language schools are hired simply because they speak English, although they otherwise lack formal teaching or language qualifications.

The schools, in turn, have countered those arguments by pointing to their increasingly stringent teaching requirements.

Andrew Whitmarsh, the national service manager of the Wall Street Institute Indonesia, one of the country’s highest profile English-language schools, says not just any native speaker is allowed to teach there.

“In some instances, we can hire teachers with degrees in applied linguistics or education, as long as they demonstrate an academic focus on English that satisfactorily adheres to the Ministry of Education’s criteria,” he says.

But the main requirement, he says, is internationally recognized certification for TESOL, or Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Teachers at Wall Street Institute may also only come from a handful of English-speaking countries: the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. That requirement is more stringent than the government’s policy, which allows nationals of most countries to teach English. Only those from a list of 18 states are prohibited.

Due to Wall Street Institute’s stringent teaching requirements, many of its teaching applicants are turned down.

“We receive hundreds of applications every month, and we interview roughly 70 percent of candidates, where 30 percent of them do not meet our minimum requirements,” Whitmarsh says.

He adds prospective teachers must also take a test and undergo a health check, while the school examines their qualifications and references. The whole process can take up to six weeks.

Unlike Wall Street Institute, though, the Education Ministry does not require English teachers to have a teaching certificate.

“All that’s basically needed is a [bachelor’s] degree from the requisite major, which in this case is English literature,” says Syawal Gultom, the ministry’s head of human resources development and education quality.

This requirement, however, has sparked further debate.

“An undergraduate degree in English often does not indicate that the holder is prepared to teach English, as such degrees rarely include a teaching component,” William Daniel, the president director of Efficient English Services, which operates Wall Street Institute, wrote in an opinion piece for the Jakarta Globe earlier this year.

“The unfortunate consequence of this requirement is that many native-speaker teachers who are experienced, educated to degree level and fully accredited are not currently eligible for employment in Indonesia.”

But Syawal is adamant that the restriction exists for a reason, saying that the ministry will continue to “carry out surveillance for those English courses in the context of their curricula and education standards.”

As for teaching restrictions set by the schools themselves, he adds, “They have the full right to set the requirements in accordance with their standards.”