Fifty teachers killed in Aceh since 1999<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
At least 50 teachers assigned to the province of Nanggroe Aceh
\nDarussalam (NAD) have been killed in the armed conflict there
\nbetween 1999 and 2003. Among them, 22 alone were killed by
\nmembers of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), an official said.<\/p>\n
The Antara news agency reported that some 170 other teachers
\nwere seriously injured or tortured, and even kidnapped by the
\nrebels, according to Anas M. Adam, acting head of the Aceh
\nprovincial education office. Some had become invalids, he added,
\nciting the information he received from the regencies. He was
\nspeaking on the sidelines of the National Education Day
\ncommemoration in Banda Aceh on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\"Teachers should not become the object of violence,\" Anas
\nsaid, \"They enlighten the community with knowledge.\"<\/p>\n
The government has yet to decide whether martial law in the
\nprovince will be lifted on May 19, or whether it will be extended
\nonly in certain areas as deemed necessary.<\/p>\n
Anas added that the local administration had paid between Rp 1
\nmillion (US$120) and Rp 10 million ($1,200) in compensation to
\neach of the teachers' families and teachers who received medical
\ntreatment.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh disclosed that the
\nprovince had received Rp 11.5 billion ($1.3 million) of a total
\ndonation of Rp 15 billion from governors all across the country.<\/p>\n
The donation would help finance the renovation of dozens of
\nschool buildings destroyed in the armed conflict, Abdullah said.
\nTo acknowledge the donors, school buildings would be named after
\nthe contributing province, Abdullah said.<\/p>\n
He added that the funds involved had been distributed to
\nregencies and municipalities in the province. Each regency
\nreceives Rp 500 million for renovations. Anas said that by the
\nend of the year, there should no longer be students attending
\nclasses in tents and makeshift shelters.<\/p>\n
Education officials in Aceh also said they would do their best
\nto ensure that exams for 121,000 students this year would run
\nsmoothly. For the conflict area a graduation rate of 75 percent
\nwould be quite good, Anas said.<\/p>\n
Separately, the head of the Bireuen education office, Ibrahim
\nAli, said that the Ministry of Education had allocated Rp 2
\nbillion for the rebuilding of 20 school buildings in the regency.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar
\nsaid that demands to improve the quality of education were mainly
\nbased on both the need to keep up with the rapid pace of
\nglobalization and the need to adjust to a more \"democratic\"
\neducation system.<\/p>\n
Addressing a commemoration of National Education Day on
\nSunday, he said the problems which urgently required solution
\nwere the uneven distribution of education, and the poor quality
\nand flawed management of the education system.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, East Java the education office sought to calm
\nfears that scores of high school students might fail to pass the
\nupcoming exams given the national standards that may be too high
\nin certain areas.<\/p>\n
Rasiyo, head of the provincial education agency said that
\nthere would be \"different versions\" of the material. The exams
\nlater this month will comprise maths, Indonesian and English.<\/p>\n
\"For instance the material for East Java and Irian Jaya would
\nbe different, and there would be differences within East Java
\nalone,\" Rasiyo said on Sunday, as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
The passing grade for the subjects is respectively 4.01 out of
\n10. Under public pressure the ministry has said that students who
\nfailed to pass the minimum grade could have a second chance.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fifty-teachers-killed-in-aceh-since-1999-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}