Leading Teacher Program Abolished, Now All Teachers Can Become Principals

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The Teacher Driving Program, which was previously initiated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim, has been abolished. The teacher driving certificate is no longer required as a prerequisite for teachers to become school principals.

The Director General of Teachers, Educational Personnel, and Teacher Education (GTKPG) of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), Nunuk Suryani, stated that the Teacher Driving program has been abolished since March 18, 2025, through the Decree of the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education Number 14/M/2025. This decision was made because the Teacher Driving program does not align with the current priority programs of Kemendikdasmen.

Now, all teachers who meet the administrative requirements can become principals.

"The Teacher Driving Program has been abolished, so the Teacher Driving certificate is no longer a requirement for prospective school principals," said Nunuk in Jakarta, Thursday (5/6/2025).

Thus, every teacher has the opportunity to become a school principal, as regulated in the Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 7 of 2025 concerning the Assignment of Teachers as School Principals. The teacher driving certificate, which was previously a mandatory requirement to become a school principal, has been abolished.

Currently, the requirements to become a school principal include: holding a bachelor's degree (S1) or a four-year diploma (D-IV), possessing a teaching certificate, having a minimum rank of group III/C for civil servant teachers, and holding at least the position of first expert teacher for teachers classified as Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK) with a minimum of eight years of experience in the teaching position.

In addition, candidates for the position of school principal must have good ratings in teacher performance assessments over the past two years, possess a minimum of two years of managerial experience in a school, and be at least 56 years old when appointed as principal.

"Now, all teachers who meet the administrative requirements can become principals," said Nunuk.

As a substitute for the driving teacher, the Director General of GTKPG at the Ministry of Education and Culture will hold a School Leadership Program. This program is designed to prepare the capacity of prospective school principals as learning leaders, focusing on deep learning and the utilization of digital technology such as coding and artificial intelligence.

According to Nunuk, leadership in schools is crucial for directing and managing the school ecosystem to achieve quality, inclusive, adaptive, and equitable education. A good school leader will have a significant impact on the quality of learning, which in turn affects student learning outcomes.

"However, this actually grants the right to every teacher who meets the administrative requirements to become a school principal, not limited only to driving teachers, but to any teacher," said Nunuk.

Nunuk revealed that 40,072 out of 184,954 schools do not have a principal. Of these, 26,909 schools are led by acting principals assigned by the education office, while 13,163 other schools do not have a principal at all.

For the year 2025, there is a need for 50,971 school principals. This figure is derived from the number of schools without principals plus 10,899 principals who will retire this year.

Nunuk emphasized that to meet this need, teachers who have fulfilled the administrative requirements to become school principals in accordance with ministerial regulations, but have not yet participated in the school leadership program, can be appointed as school principals first, and then follow the school leadership program afterward.

"They can be trained after they are appointed. This is more or less the overall need, this is a lot," he said.

With the elimination of the driving teacher program, long-serving teachers can become school principals without the difficulty of participating in the driving teacher program, which is mostly conducted online.

Since its launch by Minister Nadiem in July 2020, the Teacher Driving Program has been participated in by 92,888 teachers who have graduated as of August 2024, with 12,400 of them having become school principals. This program aims to develop teachers into learning leaders who can drive positive change in schools and educational environments.

"Driving teachers must also serve as trainers or mentors for other teachers in student-centered learning, as well as being role models and agents of transformation for the education ecosystem," said Nadiem during the virtual launch on July 3, 2020.

However, this program has generated numerous issues ranging from budgetary concerns to the privileges granted to driving teachers to participate in training, advance their careers as school principals, and secure special slots in the Teacher Professional Education (PPG), leading to an exclusivity of the Driving Teacher Program that seems to create fragmentation between driving teachers and those who are not.

The issue was brought to court by several teachers and was granted through the decision of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia Number 35/P/HUM/2023 regarding the Material Test of the Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 26 of 2022 concerning the Teacher Driving Education. The decision was read on November 28, 2023.

The essence of the ruling is to request Nadiem to revoke the requirement that candidates for the teacher driving education program must have at least 10 years of remaining teaching service. This means that the regulation limits the maximum age of teachers eligible to participate in the teacher driving program to 50 years.

"The Teacher Driving Education is in conflict with higher legislation, namely Law Number 14 of 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers," said Supreme Court Justice Irfan Fachruddin in the ruling.