Educators ready to resume classes

Haidir Anwar Tanjung and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru/Jakarta

Teachers and students in Kampar regency have decided to end almost a two week massive strike, and will be ready to go back to school on Tuesday, only three days after the regency council dismissed Kampar regent, Jefri Noer.

"We are sticking to our promise that after Jefri is dismissed, we will resume classes.

But, we will monitor developments closely, until a final decision is made by the Ministry of Home Affairs," M. Yasir, the chairman of the All-Indonesia Teachers Association (PGRI) Kampar branch, said on Monday.

The situation in the regency has been normal since Saturday, when the regency council held a plenary meeting to dismiss Jefri and his deputy A. Zakir on the grounds that people in the regency had lost confidence in them.

As the wave of protests have subsided, street sweepers began to clean up litter on the streets in Bangkinang, the capital of Kampar, where tens of thousands of students and teachers staged protests against the Kampar regent for the last 12 days.

Later on Sunday and Monday, several teachers and students went to their schools, to clean up garbage and prepare for classes on Tuesday.

Ibu Iwan, a schoolteacher, said that she was ready to get back to school, because the teachers' demand was already met by the regency council. "The regent deserved to be dismissed, because he had insulted the teaching profession," she said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The brouhaha in Kampar, some 60 kilometers west of the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, dates back to early February when the regent held a meeting with representatives of teachers in the regency.

Initially, the meeting went peacefully. But, tension rose when school principal Abdul Latif Hasyim questioned the regent on the low budget for education in the regency.

The regent was incensed by the question, saying that the school principal was not of the same level as him.

Furthermore, the regent ordered Abdul to leave the meeting, which he refused to do.

The regent's action caused a backlash, as four days later, dozens of teachers and students, in a show of solidarity for Abdul Latif, took to the streets in Bangkinang. They demanded that the regency council dismiss Jefri for insulting the teaching profession.

Actually, this was not the first time for Jefri to be in the hot seat. In 2002, he was accused of using a fake senior high school diploma to gain eligibility to take the post of regent. The regency council voted for his dismissal, but the decision was annulled by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Separately, Riau Governor Rusli Zainal said on Monday that the beleaguered Jefri would remain regent until the Ministry of Home Affairs decided whether the council's decision was lawful.

"The decision will take effect after a decision by the Ministry of Home Affairs," Rusli told The Jakarta Post.

In Jakarta, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno questioned Monday's decision by the regency council.

Hari said that the council should not dismiss the deputy regent too, because the problem was due to personal discord between Jefri and the teachers.

"If the regent was dismissed for bad conduct, why was the deputy regent fired too? This is too much," he said, after attending the International Conference of Islamic Scholars here.

The minister said that his office had formed a team to solve the case, and the team would go to Kampar on Tuesday for further investigation.