Educators ready to resume classes
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.