Schools close while teachers take to streets<\/p>\n
BOGOR, West Java (JP): Most state schools in Bogor and
\nSukabumi were closed on Monday as teachers took to the streets to
\nprotest the government's pay policy in what was seen as a prelude
\nto a nationwide strike planned by teachers this week.<\/p>\n
At least 3,000 members of the local chapters of the Indonesian
\nTeachers Union (PGRI) marched from Sempur sport field to the
\nBogor legislative council demanding a 300 percent hike in their
\nsalaries.<\/p>\n
The teachers from elementary, junior and senior high schools
\nin Bogor and nearby Sukabumi also demanded higher structural
\nallowances, in line with the government's decision to increase
\nsuch allowances for top civil servants by up to 9,000 percent
\nbeginning in April.<\/p>\n
The spokesman for the group, Sahiri Hernawan, said the
\nteachers should not be treated like government workers. \"Teachers
\nshould be paid as teachers, not as civil servants .... Our
\nsalaries must be managed under an educational paradigm, not the
\nbureaucracy.\"<\/p>\n
In Bantul, near Yogyakarta, more than 1,000 elementary school
\nteachers gathered outside the regency office to demand a 100
\npercent increase in their salaries and the cancellation of the
\nhike in structural allowances for top government employees.<\/p>\n
Taking part in the three-hour protest were teachers from
\nBantul and nearby regencies, all from the local PGRI chapters.<\/p>\n
Surtini, a teacher at Pandansimo elementary school, said she
\nand her husband could barely make ends meet on their current
\nsalaries. \"I've been teaching for 20 years and I only get Rp
\n536,000 (US$71) a month,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The authorities in Bogor and Bantul promised the teachers they
\nwould raise their concerns with the central government in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The two protests were seen as a foretaste of things to come,
\nas teachers have threatened a nationwide strike from Thursday to
\nSaturday to press their demands.<\/p>\n
The threatened strike comes as schools are preparing their
\nstudents to take national final examinations scheduled for May.<\/p>\n
The government appealed to teachers on Monday to reconsider
\nthe strike, promising to look into their demands.<\/p>\n
\"I ask teachers across the country not to carry out the threat
\nbecause it will affect students,\" Minister of National Education
\nYahya Muhaimin said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Yahya said he took the threat of a national strike seriously,
\nbut added that the government had no plan to penalize striking
\nteachers.<\/p>\n
\"No, I will not sanction them, but (I ask them to) please
\nthink of the students,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Yahya broke ranks with President Abdurrahman Wahid, saying he
\ndid not support the government's plan to increase structural
\nallowances for top civil servants, adding that the money would
\nbest be used to increase the salaries of teachers.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty
\nEradication Basri Hassanudin said teachers should trust the
\ngovernment's political will to improve their welfare.<\/p>\n
\"There will be further discussions on raising teachers'
\nsalaries. Please be patient and do not go on strike,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Basri said teachers already had been given a 100 percent
\nincrease in their functional allowances, in addition to the 30
\npercent across-the-board increase in civil servants' salaries
\nbeginning on April 1.<\/p>\n
Although the striking teachers on Monday used the PGRI banner,
\nthe union's leaders in Jakarta denied the organization was behind
\nthe planned nationwide strike.<\/p>\n
PGRI chairman Muhammad Surya told The Jakarta Post the union
\ndid not recommend the strike and had asked teachers to air their
\nconcerns without abandoning students.<\/p>\n
He said that teachers could, for example, prepare a package of
\nwork for students to complete in class if they were going to be
\nabsent from school for several days.<\/p>\n
\"We asked them to stage protests that would not disrupt the
\nlearning process. We only want to draw public attention to our
\ncondition. We have no intention of harming students' interests,\"
\nSurya said.<\/p>\n
Any call for a strike came from organizations other than PGRI,
\nhe said without specifying which organizations he was alluding
\nto.<\/p>\n
The government has doubled the functional allowance for
\nteachers to between Rp 90,000 and Rp 140,000 a month, with the
\nincrease taking effect on April 1.<\/p>\n
\"This 100 percent hike is very insignificant,\" Surya said,
\nadding that PGRI had already proposed to the government an
\nincrease in functional allowances to between Rp 150,000 and Rp
\n900,000.<\/p>\n
\"We only ask for better appreciation, we don't intend to
\nburden the government. Any improvement in our salaries will
\nbenefit the general public because we are responsible for their
\nchildren's education,\" he said. (21\/44\/sur\/dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/schools-close-while-teachers-take-to-streets-1447893297",
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