Top 10 Indonesian Provinces with the Lowest Number of Teachers: Eastern Indonesia Dominates

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) recorded 3.36 million teachers in Indonesia during the first semester of the 2023/2024 academic year.

However, several Indonesian provinces still have the lowest number of teachers. Data shows that eastern Indonesia has a lower availability of teaching staff than other regions.

Papua Pegunungan Province has the fewest teachers, with only 6,932 in the 2023/2024 academic year. This represents only 0.20% of the national total.

Papua Selatan follows in second place, with 8,283 teachers, or 0.24% of the total number of teachers nationwide.

Third is Papua Barat Daya with 9,855 teachers, or 0.29%.

The Acting Head of the Jayapura Regency Education Office, Eqberth C. Kopeuw, stated that Jayapura Regency, Papua, currently lacks 514 teachers at the elementary and secondary school levels.

"The shortage of teachers is 44 at the elementary school level, 198 at the junior high school level, 101 at the senior high school level, and 171 at the vocational school level," said Eqberth in his statement, as reported by Antara on Thursday (10/10/2023).

To overcome this teacher shortage, the local government employs teachers on a contract basis.

Eqberth also hopes that the ongoing recruitment of civil servant candidates (CPNS) and government employees with work agreements (PPPK) can address the teacher shortage in Jayapura Regency.

Here is a complete list of the 10 provinces with the lowest number of teachers in Indonesia during the first semester of the 2023/2024 academic year:

1. Papua Pegunungan: 6,932 teachers
2. Papua Selatan: 8,283 teachers
3. Papua Barat Daya: 9,855 teachers
4. Papua Tengah: 9,936 teachers
5. Papua Barat: 10,181 teachers
6. North Kalimantan: 12,889 teachers
7. Papua: 15,989 teachers
8. Gorontalo: 18,735 teachers
9. Bangka Belitung Islands: 19,196 teachers
10. North Maluku: 27,057 teachers

(See also: There are 3.36 Million Teachers in Indonesia in 2023/2024, Most are Elementary School Teachers)