In an effort to set standards and increase the quality of teachers, in 2007 the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) began to implement a teacher certification program. Teacher certification applies to teachers in public and private schools, across all levels of schooling, and aims to improve the quality of teachers, learning, and education in Indonesia in a holistic and ongoing manner.

Participants in the certification program are teachers that have, as a minimum, an undergraduate degree (S1) or four-year diploma (D4) who are selected based on a set of ordered criteria. They are required to compile and submit portfolios for assessment against set standards. Teachers deemed to pass, either directly through portfolio assessment or after undertaking a remedial training course, receive a certificate, a teacher registration number, and a professional allowance to the value of one month’s basic salary. In 2008 The SMERU Research Institute undertook a study of the 2007 certification program in Jambi, West Java, and West Kalimantan to understand its implementation process and perceptions of the parties involved on whether there was any influence on the quality of teachers and learning.