The image of today's teachers is a portrait of the nation's future. While extreme, this statement is not entirely wrong. Teachers determine our nation's future. In the hands of teachers, the future of the nation is at stake.
Meanwhile, efforts to improve the quality of education today experience several obstacles that have not yet been fully resolved. There is still a relatively high dropout rate, prospective teachers with high interest but not top candidates, and the qualifications of some teachers still failing to meet eligibility standards.
Actually, efforts to improve the quality of education from year to year are always government programs. Education quality is influenced by the integral improvement of all educational components such as teacher quality, equitable teacher distribution, continuously refined curricula, adequate facilities, a conducive learning atmosphere, and increased teacher quality.
This is also felt in Eastern Indonesia, especially in East Nusa Tenggara. The quality of teachers in NTT is still considered very low. The Head of the Education Office of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Yohana Lisapaly, stated that teacher competency in NTT is still low, impacting the low quality of education which remains below the national average.
Based on central government evaluations for NTT regarding teacher competency tests, it is relatively low and still below the national average, making the quality in NTT far from expectations. Becoming a quality teacher is not as easy a job as people imagine. Professional teachers must have expertise, skills, and willingness, following Ki Hajar Dewantara's philosophy.