7,000 part-time teachers demand better conditions
7,000 part-time teachers demand better conditions
Kasparman, The Jakarta Post, Padang
Some 7,000 temporarily employed teachers in West Sumatra are
threatening to go on strike in protest against the provincial
administration's alleged discriminatory recruitment policy and
its neglect of their conditions of service.
The threat was made at a second demonstration late on Tuesday
afternoon by at least 100 temporarily employed teachers at the
Padang mayoralty office.
The protest was triggered by the local government's move to
provide Rp 180 million from Padang's budget for at least 100
temporary administrative staff to attend diploma programs at
state-run Padang University.
The demonstrators, from the Padang-based Association of
Indonesian Temporary Teachers (IGHI), reiterated their earlier
demand for the cancellation of the state-funded program, which,
they said, amounted to unfair treatment of them.
They also claimed the program was only wasting state resources
as its participants had no experience or expertise in teaching.
"Attention should first have been paid to our situation
because we have been serving as temporarily employed teachers for
10 years to 15 years," Padang's IGHI chairperson Yulfaheri said.
He demanded that the Padang administration consider seriously
their situation by officially appointing them civil servants
teaching in schools.
He suspected that the diploma program, which excluded
temporary teachers, was to prepare the participants before their
being appointed as civil servants within the administration.
Another IGHI activist, M. Nahar, said the Rp 180 million in
funds should have been used to improve the welfare of temporarily
employed teachers in Padang.
He said that amid the prolonged economic crisis, he and fellow
teachers were paid an average of Rp 200,000 per month and that
the amount was far from enough to cover their family's daily
living costs.
Nahar admitted that school headmasters had been intimidated by
certain parties to prevent a planned strike by temporarily
employed teachers.
"We would not have gone on strike if we had not been ignored.
Please pay attention to our demands. We are aware that if we
strike, thousands of students will be affected," he said.
Yulfaheri said he would organize a massive demonstration on
Monday, should his organization's demands continue to be ignored.
In a response to the protest, Padang administration secretary
Masril Payan said that it was impossible for his office to stop
the diploma program, which started three weeks ago, as it had
been approved by the city's legislative council.
The program was aimed at improving the skills and knowledge of
the 100 temporarily employed civil servants, he added.
He flatly denied that the participants would automatically be
accepted as civil servants after the training had finished.
"It's impossible, because the recruitment of new civil
servants will be announced openly. They (the 100) will have to
compete with others for the jobs," Masril argued.