JAYAPURA – The Papua Provincial Government has taken steps to reorganize its teaching workforce to maintain the continuity of teaching and learning activities in its supervised schools. One of the policies adopted is to return K2-status teachers who have been assigned to office duties so they can resume teaching in schools.

Acting Head of the Papua Education Office, Marthen Medlama, explained that the policy was taken after the regional government found a shortage of vocational teachers due to a wave of retirements. The findings were obtained after the Papua Vice Governor, together with officials from the Education Office, conducted direct inspections of schools managed by the provincial government.

According to Marthen, the number of vocational teachers reaching retirement age is quite significant in 2026 and is expected to increase in the following year. This condition has the potential to disrupt learning activities, especially in vocational schools that require teachers with specialized competencies.

"Many vocational teachers are retiring at the same time. This must be anticipated immediately so that learning activities are not disrupted," Marthen said on Monday (February 9, 2026).

He said that the Governor and Vice Governor of Papua have decided that Category II teachers who were previously placed in structural positions in offices should be returned to their primary function as teaching staff in schools. The policy has been followed up through memos and directives for processing by the Regional Civil Service Agency.

At present, the Papua Education Office is processing the administrative return of the teachers and has assigned the relevant division to arrange their reassignment to schools. This step is expected to help fill teacher shortages in 12 schools supervised by the Papua Provincial Government.

The Papua Provincial Government emphasized that this reorganization is part of its efforts to maintain the quality of education services while ensuring that supervised schools continue to operate optimally despite staffing limitations caused by teacher retirements. ***