Incentive offered for teachers to work overtime<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Teachers of intermediate schools are being
\noffered Rp 1,000 an hour (US 47 cents) to work overtime beginning
\nin July, the Ministry of Education announced yesterday.<\/p>\n
Director of Basic Education Djauzak Achmad said the new
\nincentive program is being launched as part of the government's
\nefforts to ensure the success of the new nine-year compulsory
\neducation plan that requires children to attend three years of
\njunior high school as well as six years of primary school.<\/p>\n
One of the obstacles in implementing the compulsory education
\nplan is the shortage of teachers at intermediate schools. The new
\nincentive program is intended to partially redress the problem,
\nDjauzak told reporters yesterday.<\/p>\n
The government has already taken steps over the last 12 months
\nto improve the welfare of teachers, one of the lowest paid
\nprofessions in the country, and strengthen the career promotion
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
The Rp 1,000 an hour incentive is a major improvement over the
\nRp 250 offered previously, but still does not match the Rp 3,000
\nto Rp 15,000 teachers can earn by private tutoring, now a common
\npractice among teachers to supplement their income.<\/p>\n
Teachers at government schools are contracted to work 24 hours
\na week, and anything above that is treated as overtime.<\/p>\n
Djauzak agreed that ideally, the salaries of government
\nteachers should be improved more in commensurate with the strong
\nresponsibility they carry, but said that budget constraints make
\nit impossible at present to increase their pay.<\/p>\n
\"The government realizes that teachers play a big role in
\nmaking the compulsory education program successful, that's why
\nwe've decided to increase the incentive,\" he said.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto, in launching the nine-year compulsory
\neducation scheme on Monday, called for a nationwide effort to
\nensure its success. The plan relies on the support of private
\neducation institutions to provide extra seats, and on parents to
\nencourage their children to stay in school until 15 years of age.<\/p>\n
Djauzak said the teachers' shortage in Indonesia has been
\naggravated by the fact that most teachers prefer to work in big
\ncities and many of them shun working in isolated villages.<\/p>\n
For example, he said that a junior high school in West Sumatra
\nhas a surplus of 30 teachers.<\/p>\n
The teacher shortage would not be as serious if we could
\nredistribute the 1.3 million teachers throughout the country, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Many schools cope with the problem by asking teachers to take
\non as many subjects as they can.<\/p>\n
He added that some schools can still function effectively with
\nonly three teachers because they only have small classes. (01)<\/p>",
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