Maintaining the Quality of Education from the Front Door

The selection of educators and education personnel is often thought of as just an administrative matter---just a technical stage before someone officially teaches in the classroom. In fact, behind the process is stored a strategic meaning: maintaining the quality of education from the first door.

Educational institutions that are serious about building the quality of their human resources understand that selection is not just about determining who is accepted and who is rejected. More than that, the selection is an effort to find the right figure, who is not only academically capable, but also has personality, integrity, and moral commitment that is in line with the values of the institution.

According to education management experts such as Malayu Hasibuan and Pangabean, the selection aims to select the person who best suits the needs of the organization. This process is important for three basic reasons: maintaining the quality of work, reducing inefficient recruitment costs, and avoiding legal problems due to errors in employee admission.

The main principles in selection are honesty, meticulousness, and objectivity. Every stage---from checking administrative files, academic tests, psychological tests, interviews, to background checks---must be carried out with clear and measurable standards. A good selection instrument must be valid, reliable, and in accordance with the characteristics of the position that will be held by prospective educators

In addition to the technical aspect, the selection policy also needs to be based on moral and social principles. Hasibuan emphasized that the ideal selection basis includes four things: government policies, position specifications, rational economic considerations, and social ethics. In the context of educational institutions, this means that selection must not ignore human values and social justice.

A well-designed selection process also reflects the seriousness of the institution in building an educational civilization. This is because the quality of educational institutions is actually determined by the quality of humans in them. Educators are not just teachers, but agents of change---those who instill values, shape character, and foster a lifelong passion for learning.

Unfortunately, there are still many educational institutions that view selection as a mere formality. In fact, mistakes in the early stages of recruitment can have a long impact: decreased work motivation, competency mismatches, and low learning quality. Investing in a good selection process does require time, effort, and money. However, the biggest cost will actually arise when the institution hires the wrong person.

Thus, strengthening the educator selection system is not just an administrative need, but a form of moral responsibility of educational institutions for the future of the nation. This is because the quality of education is not only built from the curriculum and facilities, but starts from who stands in front of the class---those who are carefully selected, driven by a sincere intention to educate, and trusted to educate the life of the nation.

This article is extracted from the teaching module of the Educational Human Resource Management Course Part 5 Teaching Lecturer Prof.Dr.A.Rusdiana, M.M