Speech on Teacher's Day

Honorable Juries

Honorable our Teachers

Ladies and Gentlemen; Brothers and Sisters

Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

It is a great honor for me to join this English speech contest. Thank you very much for the chance given to me.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

The title of my speech is: “Teachers’ Day”.

Every year, on the 25th of November, we commemorate the birthday of Teachers’ Association of the Republic of Indonesia, or known as PGRI. The day is also called National Teachers’ Day. The commemoration is a kind of appreciation for our teachers. It is usually celebrated in a ceremonial activity by giving a recognition to a certain teachers, head masters, or school attendants.

Brothers and Sisters;

The Teachers’ Association of the Republic of Indonesia (PGRI) was founded on 25th November,1945, about three months after the proclamation of the Indonesian independence. At the time, the establishment of PGRI had three purposes, they were: first, defending the independence of Indonesia; second, improving education in our country; and the last, helping the labors and teachers get their rights.

For many years, PGRI has become a functional organization representing teachers as civil servants. It has been a survival union in any kinds of social and political situation. No matter how difficult the condition of our country, PGRI always tries to survive. It will keep struggling to improve the quality of education in this country.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Today, we are in the situation of the celebration of Teachers’ Day. We are commemorating the birthday of PGRI. The question is, what should we do to make this celebration have a great meaning to the improvement of our education system?

We cannot deny that the quality of our education is still poor. It is a fact that our education achievement is at the bottom within South-East Asia countries, even we are left behind our neighbors. There are many problems in our education system. Let me give some examples: many teachers are poorly trained both in their subject matters and in teaching skills, our teachers’ salaries are low, our education fee is still expensive, and also other crucial problems related with the curriculum, national exam (UN), and teacher certification.

Brothers and Sisters;

We all know that our concern now is on how to improve the quality of our education sector. I think, there are basically two main aspects that we should focus on. The first one is human aspect and the second is our system. Human aspect means that we must overhaul the stakeholders of education sector, for examples: teachers, students, administration staff, and society. The second aspect means that we must also re-evaluate the system of our education. Our system should emphasize on the curriculum which encourages students to be able to apply their knowledge in the field of job and be ready to face the globalization.

Dealing with the above description, it is clear that PGRI has a very important role in improving the quality of our education. As the representative of teachers, PGRI should take a part on the problems related with teachers. It is impossible for us to improve the quality of our education if we do not improve the quality of our teachers. In other words, PGRI should participate actively in creating professional teachers. But, I think it is very difficult to make our teachers professional, if they do not have enough salaries for their living. It means that professional teachers should have good welfare.

Ladies and Gentlemen;
Brothers and Sisters;

Before I close my speech, on this good occasion, I would like to say… Happy Teachers’ Day! Happy birthday PGRI! Thank you very much for your dedication, thank you very much for participating in improving the quality of our education.

I think that’s all.
Thank you very much for your attention.

Wassalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.