50 teachers killed in Aceh in armed conflict since 1999
50 teachers killed in Aceh in armed conflict since 1999
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
At least 50 teachers assigned to the province of Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam (NAD) have been killed in the armed conflict there
between 1999 and 2003. Among them, 22 alone were killed by
members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), an official said.
The Antara news agency reported that some 170 other teachers
were seriously injured or tortured, and even kidnapped by the
rebels, according to Anas M. Adam, acting head of the Aceh
provincial education office. Some had become invalids, he added,
citing the information he received from the regencies. He was
speaking on the sidelines of the National Education Day
commemoration in Banda Aceh on Sunday.
"Teachers should not become the object of violence," Anas
said, "They enlighten the community with knowledge."
The government has yet to decide whether martial law in the
province will be lifted on May 19, or whether it will be extended
only in certain areas as deemed necessary.
Anas added that the local administration had paid between Rp 1
million (US$120) and Rp 10 million ($1,200) in compensation to
each of the teachers' families and teachers who received medical
treatment.
Meanwhile, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh disclosed that the
province had received Rp 11.5 billion ($1.3 million) of a total
donation of Rp 15 billion from governors all across the country.
The donation would help finance the renovation of dozens of
school buildings destroyed in the armed conflict, Abdullah said.
To acknowledge the donors, school buildings would be named after
the contributing province, Abdullah said.
He added that the funds involved had been distributed to
regencies and municipalities in the province. Each regency
receives Rp 500 million for renovations. Anas said that by the
end of the year, there should no longer be students attending
classes in tents and makeshift shelters.
Education officials in Aceh also said they would do their best
to ensure that exams for 121,000 students this year would run
smoothly. For the conflict area a graduation rate of 75 percent
would be quite good, Anas said.
Separately, the head of the Bireuen education office, Ibrahim
Ali, said that the Ministry of Education had allocated Rp 2
billion for the rebuilding of 20 school buildings in the regency.
In Jakarta, Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar
said that demands to improve the quality of education were mainly
based on both the need to keep up with the rapid pace of
globalization and the need to adjust to a more "democratic"
education system.
Addressing a commemoration of National Education Day on
Sunday, he said the problems which urgently required solution
were the uneven distribution of education, and the poor quality
and flawed management of the education system.
In Surabaya, East Java the education office sought to calm
fears that scores of high school students might fail to pass the
upcoming exams given the national standards that may be too high
in certain areas.
Rasiyo, head of the provincial education agency said that
there would be "different versions" of the material. The exams
later this month will comprise maths, Indonesian and English.
"For instance the material for East Java and Irian Jaya would
be different, and there would be differences within East Java
alone," Rasiyo said on Sunday, as quoted by Antara.
The passing grade for the subjects is respectively 4.01 out of
10. Under public pressure the ministry has said that students who
failed to pass the minimum grade could have a second chance.